War Memorials at UGA Through the years, the University of Georgia has sought various ways to honor its students, alumni, faculty and staff, who have given their lives in service to their country.
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| Mem. Hall 1925 |
Memorial Hall was dedicated in 1925 to the 47 UGA men who gave their lives in World War I. The building was the result of the first alumni fund raising campaign begun in 1897. It was originally promoted as Alumni Hall but remained incomplete until the conclusion of a War Memorial Drive in 1919-20.
It remained the only such memorial until 2005 when an effort spearheaded by Political Science
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| Memorial Garden 2005 |
Professor Loch Johnson resulted in a new memorial garden on campus which includes an electronic Book of Remembrance in the adjacent Student Learning Center. The book contains the names of honorees that died in combat, in training, or in public service since 1785, as well as the class year and the year of final sacrifice.
In keeping with the spirit of these efforts, the Alumni Association plans to sponsor a project” “UGA’s Greatest Generation” which will include collecting “war stories” from alumni, faculty and staff relating to World War II. The project will culminate in a special emphasis during Veteran’s Week observances this year.
Memorial Hall includes an inscription around the large interior rotunda written by Chancellor David C. Barrow which reads :”In loyal love, we set apart this house, a memorial to those lovers of peace who took arms, left home and dear ones and gave life that all might be free.”
The new memorial garden which was funded by private donations is located near the corner of Baldwin Street and Sanford Drive next to the North Tower of the Student Learning Center.
Dr. Johnson says he got the idea for this memorial when he was at a university in New England and saw its tribute to fallen students, faculty, staff and alumni. Johnson observed “We did not have a university-wide memorial honoring all service. After Sept.11, 2001, I think the need for such a memorial became even more self-evident.”
An inscription in the garden reads: “Their names shall live forevermore. In grateful remembrance of University of Georgia students, faculty, staff and alumni who have fallen in defense of democracy and their country.”
The publication of war experiences submitted by our alumni (men and women) will be placed in future editions of the UGA Alumni Association monthly E-newsletter. All faculty, staff and alumni who have personal memories from the war years are asked to e-mail them to cmcbride@uga.edu or mail them to Claude McBride, UGA Alumni Association, Wray-Nicholson House, 298 Hull St., Athens, GA 30602.
Founders' Memorial Garden
Near the heart of the University of Georgia’s old north campus is a special memorial that honors 12 prominent Athens women who in 1891 began a national phenomenon by forming the first garden club.
On a cold January morning the women held their first meeting in the E.K. Lumpkin home on Prince Avenue. The restored house built, in 1859, is now part of the facilities of the Young Harris Methodist Church.
In 1936 the National Council of State Garden Clubs acknowledged the Athens Ladies Garden Club as the first garden club. To commemorate the achievement and honor the founders, in 1939 the Founders’ Memorial Garden was dedicated.
In their book, “Athens: the Columned City,” Kenneth and Blanche Marsh describe the garden layout, “Below a boxwood garden area is a large sunken garden surrounded by a serpentine brick wall. Its statuary and pool were given as memorials by various garden clubs. The central figure located between double steps leading down into the garden was presented by the National Council of Garden Clubs in 1954, the 25th anniversary of the National Council of State Garden Clubs.”
The impressive garden resulted from the State Garden Club of Georgia teaming up with the Landscape Architecture Department at UGA and was designed by UGA Professor Hubert B.Owens, former head of the School of Environmental Design. The extensive botanical plantings and shrubs surround a refurbished faculty residence built in 1857 with a separate kitchen and smoke house.
The refurbished residence, featuring period furnishings and décor, served as the headquarters for the Garden Clubs of Georgia until 1998 when the club moved into its new spacious headquarters building at the UGA State Botanical Garden.
The Garden and old faculty residence are used often for functions such as receptions, weddings and concerts. The facilities are maintained coordinated by the School of Environmental Design.
Today there are 13 garden clubs in Athens with 517 members. In Georgia there are 521 clubs with a membership of 13,519 and in the United States 264,440 members belong to 8,488 clubs.
The Lumpkin House, the faculty residence and the garden are all listed on the National Register of Historic Homes and Places.
Wray-Nicholson House
One of Athens’ most beautiful antebellum homes has served as the headquarters for the UGA Alumni Association since September, 2000.
The historic Wray-Nicholson House is ideally located one block from Old North Campus at 298 Hull Street, one block west of Lumpkin, just below the Downtown Holiday Inn. It is one of the oldest structures in Athens-Clarke County.
An outstanding example of Greek Revival Architecture, the House traces its beginning to 1825 when it served as a student dining hall. In 1845, Thomas Wray, an Athens businessman, acquired the property which bordered the University of Georgia campus and made significant architectural improvements that resulted in a spacious private residence.
John W. Nicholson purchased the home in 1867 and made extensive improvements including the addition of the two-tiered porches. These were replaced by another renovation in 1916 by the present impressive portico which features six giant Doric columns that were removed from an antebellum mansion on Prince Avenue. The Nicholson family retained ownership for nearly 100 years.
Surrounded by massive oaks, magnolias and a large garden area the grounds are credited to the vision of Lucy Woodall Nicholson, wife of Madison Nicholson, John’s son. Mrs. Nicholson was hostess in the home from 1905 until her death in 1970. She was an avid gardener and served as president of the Ladies Garden Club of Athens, America’s first Garden Club founded in 1891.
The House underwent a massive restoration in the late 1990’s when Athens-Clarke County voters approved a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for the project. The house, its grounds and out buildings were then purchased by the University of Georgia.
The house is open for tours each Friday before home games at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Robert Toombs
The legends of Robert Toombs, the southern statesman who attained national acclaim, are still alive 177 years after his dismissal from the University of Georgia.
The fabled stories about Toombs student experiences are repeated almost daily by tour guides as prospective students and others visit our historic campus.
A sundial in front of the historic chapel is the focus of attention. It marks the spot where a sturdy massive tree called "Toombs Oak" once grew. Historian Nash Boney author of "A Pictorial History of the University of Georgia" sums up Robert Toombs career: "Toombs served in the state legislature and in both houses of Congress as a Whig. A unionist in 1850, he joined the secessionists in 1860 and helped take Georgia out of the Union in 1861. He briefly served as Confederate secretary of state and then as a brigadier general in the army". Following the war, Toombs returned to practice law in his hometown of Washington, GA.
Even though he was expelled from UGA, Boney says he later became a "fiercely loyal alumnus, serving on the Board of Trustees for many years before and after the war."
Robert P. Brooks, author of The University of Georgia under Sixteen Administrations says Toombs was "perhaps the most outstanding man of his era."
He has a county named for him, and an avenue in his hometown among other things, but most interesting is how the oak tree on North campus got its name.
As a student, Toombs was anything but exemplary. Boney describes him as "bright and unstable" but contends he was "one of the biggest discipline problems in University history."
Merton Coulter in his College Life in the Old South describes the legends that grew up after the faculty dismissed Toombs in 1828. One legend contends the ousted student "stayed around until commencement (from January to August was a rather long wait) and then, with burning oratory, drew the multitudes out of the chapel and away from the official program to a great oak tree near-by.
"As proof of this legend the tree was ever afterwards called the Toombs oak - until one day lightning struck the tree and killed it, and what could be more miraculous then the fact that Toombs had died the very moment before the tree was shattered!
"It is also told how years after Toombs had been driven from the campus and had attained fame, the University offered him a degree and how with malignant scorn he replied, "When it would have conferred honor upon me to have a degree from Franklin College you refused me; now when by accepting it I would confer honor upon your school you offer it. I will have none of it."
Coulter observes, "this legend fails to take into consideration that Toombs as an ardent friend of the University, became a trustee in 1859, and remained on the board until his death,"
While these accounts are categorized "legends," much of Toombs life as a student is documented in Faculty Minutes and the diary of Moses Waddel, UGA president at the time. Records show Toombs was first expelled in 1825 after several incidents of fighting using a knife, club or pistol.
Upon his first expulsion, Toombs proved his budding political savvy by petitioning the faculty for re-instatement with the endorsement of both Demosthenian and Phi Kappa Literary Societies.
Coulter reports that the faculty relented and Toombs was allowed to return. However, records show that the brazen young student continued swearing, fighting, drinking, and "indulging in loud laughing and boisterous conversation in his room."
His continued bad behavior culminated in his final dismissal in 1828 with the notation in the faculty minutes, "the faculty could do nothing more in his case."
Today, the sundial stands proudly marking the place where Toombs oak grew. A short distance away, in the chambers of historic Demosthenian Hall where he honed his much acclaimed oratorical and debating skills, his portrait hangs alongside the Society's most honored and revered alumni.
Go Dawgs
TAMPA - In Busch Gardens to participate in UGA Alumni Day on the eve of the Outbowl Game, it was exciting to see the thousands of Georgia fans wandering around the gigantic botanical Garden.
Needing a brief rest, I sent the grandchildren, their mother and my wife on their way and found a quiet, beautiful place between one of the large theaters and the main throughfare.
As I sat down on my comfortable bench placed before a lush, colorful tropical planting away from the teeming throngs, I noticed I was adjacent to a special smoking area. An old man I judged to be in his eighties sat there in a wheelchair puffing away. His care giver or at least his wheel chair pusher stood patiently behind him waiting.
I looked over at him, smiled and nodded. He saw my red shirt with Bulldog logo and says "You for the bulldogs?' "That's right," I reply. "Good," he affirms, and takes another long draw on his cigarette. I wonder what in the world he is doing in this place. He is very thin, his skin has a yellowish pallor, his eyes are sunk deep in his narrow face and his breathing seems labored.
His companion is old, pudgy with hair of that Florida blond variety - lots of peroxide and sun that sorta resembles straw. She is wearing a simple shapeless gingham dress and seems completely bored - except now and then she offers a feeble smile. The old man then took several puffs and with his yellowed fingers reached over to a standing ash tray and stuffed out what is left of his cigarette. He then signals her to push him toward me.
"I want to show you something," he says, and when he is near enough, he lifted his right leg with considerable effort and placed it on the bench beside me and began to lift his pants leg. My first thought was "He is going to show me his scars or some terrible wound or something. But he gets his pants up and to my amazement there is a large tatoo on his shin - a five inch head of a bulldog wearing a red and black cap - the old traditional Bulldog symbol.
"My word", I said, "It's beautiful" which seemed appropriate. He was beaming. His companion looked disgusted. You could tell she had seen it before and was not impressed. "I love the dogs," he said. "I flunked out of the University in the forties and came down here to work. Been here ever since, but I still love Georgia. It's good to see so many of you down here."
I explained that it was UGA Alumni Day and that was why there were so many Dog fans around. He said, "Well, they gave us passes at the nursing home to come out here this month and this is the last day we could come. I didn't know about Alumni Day, but I'm glad I came. Makes me feel good to see them." He nodded at his bored chauffeur and she started to wheel him away."
"Good to see you," I said. "Glad I ran into you," he replied, "Now yaw'l go out there and win that game tomorrow." He was smiling when she rolled him down the wide sidewalk. He had gotten about ten yards away when he turned in his chair and yelled at me with his fist up in the air, "Go Dogs."
The next afternoon walking from the stadium after a great Georgia victory, I said to my companion, "I feel good." And I thought: "Somewhere in a nursing home out there in the Tampa Bay area, someone else who has been sitting in his wheelchair watching the game also feels good right now.
The Portrait of Dr. Alonzo Church
Of all the portraits of UGA presidents hanging in the Administrative Building on campus, none has a more interesting history than the framed likeness of Dr. Alonzo Church.
He held office for 30 years, 1829-1859, the longest administration in the history of the University. The fascinating story of his portrait was detailed in the October 29, 1953 edition of "The Red and Black."
The article explains how in 1854, the senior class of Franklin College (as UGA was then called) presented the portrait to Dr. Church. It was mounted in an elegant gilt frame inscribed with the names of senior class members in alphabetical order.
Church retired from the University and moved to his country home outside Athens in 1860. Meanwhile, the War between the States was raging and as General William T. Sherman and his Union army marched deeper into the South, Georgians began frantically trying to hide their valuables or send them away for safe-keeping.
The Alonzo Church family sent their most precious possessions to relatives in Columbia, S.C. Unfortunately, it was learned after the war that the portrait of Dr. Church had been lost or stolen.
Years later, a son-in-law of Church who practiced law in Columbia made a startling discovery while trying to locate a witness. His search took him into the worst part of town to a grungy, low-life saloon.
Upon entering, as he surveyed the establishment, his attention was drawn to a decoration that seemed completely out of place. Hanging over the bar was a painting of a dignified gentleman displayed in an elegant frame. To his amazement, he realized it was the missing portrait of Dr. Church.
It was ironic that the likeness of a former University president, an ordained presbyterian clergyman should be hanging there as though presiding over the proceedings.
He was able to secure the portrait with some difficulty and sent it to Dr. Church's oldest son, Alonzo II, who lived in Chicago.
Alonzo Church II moved to Washington, D.C. in 1873 and took the portrait with him. He died in 1909 and the portrait was passed on to his son, Alonzo Church III who lived in Newark, N.J.
Upon the death of the third Alonzo, the painting went to his sister in Newark. She was told by older family members that the original Alonzo Church had said he thought the portrait should be returned to the University of Georgia. So upon his granddaughter's death in 1939, it arrived back in Athens.
Now it hangs proudly alongside paintings of other UGA presidents where it belongs. It's different because the frame is oval, but more than that, it's different because of its unique history.
Claude McBride '55, former UGA Alumni Association Tour Director is a veritable repository of campus lore. If you have an interesting legacy story please e-mail Claude at cmcbride@uga.edu.
