Remembering WWI at the University of Missouri-Columbia

Memorial Student Union

As the University of Missouri-Columbia celebrates its 175th birthday this year, Missouri Over There explored the University's architectural commemorations of World War I.

The outbreak of World War I had dramatic impacts on the University. The number of students enrolled was heavily reduced as students and faculty left for military service or to work in war industries. Fraternity and dormitory buildings were used as barracks for troops during training and instruction. Forty-eight students and MU graduates were recruited for the American Ambulance Field Service in France. Additional University faculty, students, and alumni volunteered to support the war effort on the home front.  In 1918, the combination of the war effort and the flu pandemic caused a suspension of intercollegiate athletics.

By the end of the war, a total of 117 students and alumni from the University had died while in service.

Memorial Student Union  and Memorial Stadium

Interior view of Memorial Student Union's arch

In 1921, a fund raising campaign began for a "Memorial Union" and a "Memorial Stadium" to honor University alumni and students who had lost their lives during the war. Students were encouraged to pledge $100 and alumni at least $200. Donors received a certificate, a lifetime membership in the Union, and guaranteed seating for all home football games.

Original plans for Memorial Union included a women's lounge, a men's lounge, billiard rooms, and reading rooms. The official groundbreaking for the Union was in November 1921, after pledges for more than $238,000 had been received. The Gothic-style tower was completed in 1926, but the Great Depression halted the construction of Memorial Student Union's wings. The tower stood alone for nearly twenty-five years until the north and south wings were completed in 1963.

Memorial Stadium was constructed in 1925, with the first football game taking place in 1926. Memorial Stadium has undergone numerous renovations, and today is more commonly referred to as Faurot Field.

Cover of the Dedication Invitation, UMC Archives

Crowder Hall

Crowder Hall

Edinburg, Missouri, native Enoch Crowder was appointed head of the military department at the University of Missouri in 1885. While he only taught at the University for a few semesters, he had a lasting impact. In addition to being a Professor of Military Science, he helped organize the Ladies' Department Drill Company and helped form the first University band.

In 1917, now a Major General, Crowder led the drafting and directing of the Selective Service Act. He was responsible for the registration, classification, and induction of American men who were 18–30 years of age. He was later promoted to Judge Advocate General, during which time he supervised the administration of military justice in the Army. In 1918, the offices of Secretary of War Newton Baker issued the "work or fight" order, and Crowder was responsible for executing the order which mandated that virtually every activity in the country support the war effort.

On May 10, 1940, the R.O.T.C. Armory building was dedicated and named Crowder Hall, in honor of Enoch Crowder's contributions to the University and to the war effort.

Lowry Hall

Lowry Hall

Originally built in 1903, Lowry Hall was renovated in 1981 and is a visual conjunction of the "white" and "red" sides of campus. During and shortly after World War I, a shortage of brick caused the University to use white limestone, which resulted in the Neo-Gothic White Campus that borders the historic, predominately brick Red Campus to the east.

American War Mothers Memorial

American War Mothers Memorial

October 25, 1930, a stone memorial was placed on the University campus by the American War Mothers, honoring the 117 MU students who were killed during World War I. The American War Mothers, a national patriotic organization, was established on September 29, 1917, and was actively involved in volunteer work during World War I.

Unfortunately, the monument was dismantled and spent years in storage. On November 11, 2011, a ceremony was held to re-dedicate the memorial, which had been re-installed in a prominent new location just east of Memorial Student Union.

 Francis Quadrangle

David R. Francis Monument

David Rowland Francis, originally of Kentucky, was elected Mayor of St. Louis in 1885.  In 1889, he was elected as the 27th Governor of Missouri. He later served as both the United States Secretary of the Interior and as a member of the University's Board of Curators.

In 1895, the University of Missouri dedicated the David R. Francis Quadrangle. Francis was credited with keeping the University in Columbia after the fire of Academic Hall in 1892. Francis insisted that the state's land-grant University remain in a central location, rather than moving to Sedalia, as many state legislators desired. The only remains of Academic Hall are six ionic columns standing in Francis Quadrangle.

Between 1916 and 1917, Francis served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, where he experienced the Russian Revolution. This two-part revolution, spurred by World War I, ended centuries of imperial rule and set in motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union. In March, growing civil unrest, coupled with chronic food shortages, erupted into open revolt, forcing the abdication and execution of Nicholas II, the last Russian czar. Just months later, the newly installed government was overthrown by the more radical Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin.

After the February Revolution of 1917, Francis extended the official U.S. recognition of the Russian Provisional Government, the first official recognition of the Provisional Government by any nation. The October Revolution of 1917, however, marked the end of normal relations between Russia and the United States.  The Bolshevik government was still unrecognized by the Wilson administration when Francis left Russia in November of 1918.

A bronze bust of Francis' face sits at the south end of Francis Quad near the steps of Jesse Hall. A popular MU student tradition is to rub Governor Francis' nose before taking a test in order to get an A.

Francis Quadrangle

Mumford Hall

Frederick B. Mumford, originally of Michigan, began duties at the University of Missouri, College of Agriculture in 1895 as a professor. From 1909 until his retirement in 1938, Mumford served as Dean of the college. Under Mumford’s leadership, the department had expanded its services to the state.  Departments of forestry, farm management, poultry husbandry, soils, field crops, and dairy husbandry were created, and new buildings for veterinary science, agricultural chemistry, administration, and the hog cholera serum plant were built.

During World War I, Mumford served as Director of the Missouri Council of Defense and administrator of the Missouri Division of the U.S. Food Administration. As head of these defense organizations, he was responsible for the organization and implementation of the goals of the two groups to conserve resources, coordinate activities with state and federal agencies, prevent unnecessary speculation in the aspects of everyday life, and lead movements to increase food production. In the spring of 1919, he was included as a member of the Mission Americaine de Rapproachment. The purpose of the mission was to judge France’s need for economic assistance after World War I.

Mumford Hall was constructed in 1923 and dedicated to Frederick Mumford in 1930, "in order that it may stand as a monument for that service that has brought fame to him and to the University of Missouri."

Pershing Commons

Pershing Commons, a dormitory constructed in the 1970s, is named after General of the Armies John J. Pershing. Born in 1860 in Linn County, Missouri, Pershing rose to be the leader of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. For more information about Pershing's life and service, check out our January 23, 2013 blog post.

Sources and recommendations for further research:

Archives of the University of Missouri. "Meet Me At the Union!" (http://muarchives.missouri.edu/memun1.html)

Archives of the University of Missouri. "The Military and Mizzou: 1861-1947" (http://muarchives.missouri.edu/military.html)

Crowder, Enoch H. Papers. C1046. The State Historical Society of Missouri. (http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/1046.pdf)

Francis, David Rowland. Russia from the American Embassy, April, 1916-November, 1918. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1921.

A0519 Francis, David Rowland (1850-1927) Papers, 1868-1919. Missouri History Museum.

Memorial Union: The Transcendent Tower. The Museum of Art and Archaeology. (http://maa.missouri.edu/exhibitions/memorialunion/legend.html)

Mizzou Botanic Garden. American War Mothers' Memorial. (http://gardens.missouri.edu/about/descriptions/AmWarMothersMem.php)

Mumford, Frederick B. Papers. C0040. The State Historical Society of Missouri. (http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/0040.pdf)

University of Missouri. MU in Brick and Mortar. (http://umcspace.missouri.edu/historic/)

University of Missouri Student and Alumni Casualties in the Service of War: The Spanish-American War - World War II : (http://muarchives.missouri.edu/militarydeaths.html)