Campanile (Iowa State University)
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The Iowa State University campanile is located on Iowa State's central campus, and is home to the Stanton Memorial Carillon. The campanile is widely seen as one of the major symbols of Iowa State University. It is featured prominently on the university's official ring[1] and the university's mace,[2] and is also the subject of the university's alma mater ("The Bells of Iowa State").
The campanile was constructed in 1897-1898 as a memorial to Margaret MacDonald Stanton, Iowa State's first dean of women, who died on July 25, 1895. The tower is located on ISU's central campus, just north of the Memorial Union. The site was selected by Margaret's husband, Edgar W. Stanton, with the help of then-university president William M. Beardshear. The campanile stands 110 feet (34 m) tall on a 16 by 16 foot (5 by 5 m) base, and cost $6,510.20 to construct.[3]
In 1899, Edgar Stanton donated the carillon's first ten bells in memory of his late wife. Each of the original bells is inscribed with a different quotation selected by Edgar Stanton. After Edgar died in 1920, the bulk of his estate was given to the university. In 1929, a portion of this money was used to purchase an additional 26 bells that were added to the carillon in Edgar's memory. In 1956, an additional 13 bells were purchased by the Stanton Memorial Trust. One final bell was added in 1967 to bring the carillon up to a total of 50 bells. The bells and their supports at the top of the campanile weigh nearly 30 short tons (27 t), with the heaviest bell at 5,737 lb (2,602 kg). The carillon sounds every quarter hour (playing "Westminster Quarters") and can be heard from most of campus.
Between 1992 and 1994, the campanile underwent renovations with major gifts from:
- Classes of 1940, 1942, & 1987
- The Stanton Memorial Carillon Foundation
- Bobbi and Roy Reiman
- Jean and Michael Steffenson
- Esther and Harold Wilcke
Also in 1994, two ISU alumni, Charles and Ivadelle Cownie, donated $250,000 to Iowa State's music department in order to establish an endowed carillon professorship within the department.[4] The current Cownie Professor of Music (and the fifth carillonneur in ISU history) is Dr. Tin-Shi Tam.[5] ISU holds a 20 minute carillon concert every weekday at 11:50 a.m. and at other special occasions. The concert is usually performed by Dr. Tam, though students and others do occasionally perform.
Campanile folklore states that an ISU student is not a "true Iowa Stater" until having been kissed underneath the Campanile at the stroke of midnight.[6] This rite of passage lives on during "Mass Campaniling" at Homecoming, VEISHEA, or other occasions, during which time hundreds or even thousands of students gather near the campanile to continue this tradition.
[edit] References
- ^ Iowa State University Alumni Association. "Ring Symbolism"
- ^ Iowa State University Alumni Association. "Official University Mace"
- ^ Iowa State University Library. "History of the Campanile"
- ^ Purvis, Sara. "All along the bell tower." Iowa State Daily, 9 April 1997.
- ^ Iowa State University Department of Music & Theatre. "The University Carillonneurs"
- ^ Beres, Samantha. "A Sesquicentennial look back: Romantic tradition." Iowa State University, 27 April 2007.
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