The Homes of the Y

[p. 59] Prior to settling down in its present building, the Y was on the move—if occupying six different University rooms, four houses, an army Hut, some private upstairs space on Green Street in what is now known as Illini Hall is fair proof. The longest tenure was nine years, in the most palatial quarters it has occupied, Illini Hall (then the new Y building); the shortest its one-year occupancy of the old Health Service building, for many years home of the University President.

University Tenant

From 1873 to 1880 the Y occupied a room in the old University building or dormitory. Part of the time it enjoyed the atmosphere and facilities of the Adelphic Society room on the fifth floor. During the winter term of 1877 it got a better location on the first floor in room number 3. After the move to room number 3, an issue of The Student remarked: “This is a much more convenient and commodious room and with the recent improvements made by the association makes a pleasant place for their meetings.”

It was enjoying a room on the second floor in 1880 when storms struck the old building and it had to be razed. This second floor room was in the chapel. For the next three years, until 1883, it enjoyed a cold room on the top floor (the mansard story, its announcements said) of old Chemistry Building (now Harker Hall). Professor Parr said about this location: “The University then had no central heating plant and there was no provision for heating the building on Sunday. The Association bought a stove and this was the first investment of the Association on the campus. One of the members carried coal without pay to the room and warmed it for Sunday meetings.”

In its May, 1881, issue The Student offered this encouragement: “The Y rooms are rather unhandy since they have been removed to the fourth story of the Chemical building, but the members of the Association should not for this reason shun its meetings which seem of late to be scantily attended. It’s a good cause boys; Don’t let it lose ground.”

Fire damaged this building in 1883 and as Professor Parr put it. “The Association [p. 60] was without a room and without a stove, and we were given a room (the old Alethenai Hall) in the main building (University Hall). This room was cold on Sundays and we bought a very much better stove. We carpeted the floor and papered the walls.”

This room, known as the “little Theatre,” was on the fifth floor of University Hall, a long climb with the coal. Also, the stove, carpeting, and wallpaper cost money which had to be raised by subscription. Professor Parr relates, “The necessity of this sacrifice, the conception the students had that there was something to do was paramount and dominated the situation, and this was a factor of no small consequence. In this enterprise we could not see our way clear to raise all the money and Professor Henricker (not on the University staff) agreed to carry a debt of $100. This was a good investment because we had a fine room, one of the very best on the campus at that time. We had a dedication in which I. E. Browne, prophet of the work, presided. The dedication resulted in the accumulation of $108 and this cleared our debt. The President of the University attended the meeting and most stupendous of all, he dropped in a bright new ten dollars. It meant much. The little extra we had over we devoted to a missionary enterprise we had in mind at this time.” The Student reported: “The dedication of the new room of the YMCA held last Sunday was a notable event in the history of the Association. The words of encouragement from the Regent and Professors Baker, Morrow, and Burrill were listened to with pleasure. . . . At the close of the services those present showed their interest in the work of the Association by contributing $68 toward payment of the debt incurred in furnishing its new hall, thus freeing it from debt. The Association has taken a step forward and in doing so has assumed new responsibility. It is to be hoped that it will fulfill its mission by exerting a constant influence for good at the University.”

This room was occupied until 1894 when the Association moved to Room 1 on the first floor of University Hall. This Parr described as one of the University’s best rooms. It was shared with the YWCA. It was here, he said, that the idea of service commenced. With such a purpose in view a ground floor location had its advantages. But the Y still had only a room and was a “squatter” on University property.

A Home of Its Own—Curry Cottage

It is not surprising that during those years when the Y was being shunted from one University room to another, members conceived the idea that it should have a home of its own. The first definite action was not taken, however, until 1892 when seven members pledged $700 and appointed a committee to solicit, first from members and then from friends of the Association. With the assistance of F. H. Bird and John R. Mott from the national organization a campaign was planned. On Sunday May 8, 1892, Mott delivered an address in the Chapel on the subject: “The Need of a College Building and How to Secure it.” Within twenty-four hours after his address students had pledged $10,000. Also, within a short [p. 61] time, alumni had pledged $3,000. Additional subscriptions were procured but the depression of 1893 intervened and many of them were not paid.

At its meeting on March 8, 1892, the Board of Trustees of the University received a report on the progress of the YMCA and YWCA in raising a building fund. In part the report said, “A question is sure to arise as to the character and use of the building in connection with University work. The rooms may be devoted entirely to the direct affairs of the Association or they may in part be available for all students and class purposes. In some cases such structures are placed on the grounds of the institution with which they are connected; in others they are erected upon land the title of which is in the association for assigned reasons. The uses to which the building is designed should be settled first; then the question of site may be an easy one.” The Regent and the President of the Board were appointed a committee with which the members of the Christian associations could confer in regard to the proposed building. In retrospect it is fortunate that the Y did not build on University property and thus lose the independence which has characterized its activities. Perhaps the opinion of Judge J. O. Cunningham that the leasing of ground by the University to the Christian Associations would be in direct violation of the United States constitution, if not decisive was at least a deterrent to the Y either building on University property or leasing land from it.

In 1895 Professor Parr, Chairman of the Building Committee, reported that they were $18,000 short of the amount necessary to purchase a lot and building and furnish the building. For $3,000 the Y did purchase the ground where the old Physics Building stands—but a building did not materialize and later this lot was sold to the University for $15,000, a neat profit.

With this windfall the Y was able in 1899 to purchase a house and lot on the southwest corner of Wright and John streets. It was known as Curry Cottage. The student handbook for 1899-1900 reported, “Now we have a building of our own in which we can carry on our different lines of work with greater facilities and round which will be clustered remembrances of many a blessed influence that has come into the lives of those who have made their home among us.”

The handbook for 1900-01 reported, “A year ago the Association purchased a property on the corner of John and Wright Streets just west of the University and have since fitted it up for their use. The property consists of a dwelling house of twelve large rooms on a lot 170 by 170 feet. The arrangement of the house is such as to give parlors, reading, and committee rooms and offices on the first floor while the rooms on the second floor are reserved for rental.” Postcards which the Y issued depicted the interior of this building showing a “cozy corner” with a fireplace. The YWCA shared the building using two parlors on the lower floor. The second floor was rented to make the house self-supporting.

Professor Parr, Chairman of the Building Committee, describes the transactions which took place following the Panic of ’93 as follows: “We had $3,500. We bought land where the Physics Building now stands for $3,200. We also bought the land where the YWCA stands for $6,000. The women were part of the organization so far as the attempt at a building was concerned and we expected [p. 62] to build for both. We decided to separate however and gave the girls two-fifths of the share. We sold the lot to the University where the Physics Building now stands for $15,000 and bought the land where the present Union Building (Illini Hall) is for a little smaller price. We wanted the women to take the corner a block farther, but they refused to do this. I do not believe they know how much fell to our financial lot at this time.”

Curry Cottage was the home of the YMCA and the YWCA until 1908 at which time a more ambitious project materialized.

Illini Hall

On Sunday October 4, 1908, dedication ceremonies were held for a handsome new building costing in all $107,500. Ceremonies consisted of a morning, afternoon and evening program.

Roger F. Little, President of the Association and later a distinguished citizen of Champaign-Urbana and a member of the State legislature, presided at the morning session. I. E. Browne, State Secretary of Illinois Young Men’s Christian Associations, led a quiet hour service. The afternoon program was held in the University Auditorium and President James presided. The Honorable William B. McKinley, Congressman and later Senator from Illinois and an “angel” for both the YMCA and YWCA delivered an address. The dedicatory address was delivered by Congressman and later Governor of Illinois, Frank O. Lowden. The evening program was also held in the University Auditorium. T. J. Burrill, Chairman of the Board, presided. A sermon was delivered by Bishop William F. McDowell.

An attractive brochure was published for the occasion. It contains several photographs, one of the new building (with a horse and buggy in front) and others showing a spacious lobby, large lounging room, library and reading room, and a game room containing three sinful pool tables.

In his annual report for 1908-09 W. A. McKnight, General Secretary of the Y stated: “This year marks the beginning of a new epoch in the history of the Young Men’s Christian Association of the University of Illinois. In many features of its work it has for several years been one of the leading student associations of the country. It should now lead in the solution of the problems connected with administration of a large material equipment. The building should be made more than a clubhouse; it should be an effective aid to religious work. It should not be simply a place for eighty-eight men to stay but should be a home for these men who live in the dormitories. The building should be so managed as to serve the men of the University in the largest possible way. Some progress has been made along these lines and there have been some mistakes and failures. The experience has been helpful, however, and the outlook is hopeful.”

The new home was a large building, 154 by 84 feet, built of brick and stone. In the basement was a barber shop, restaurant, lunchroom, smoking room and bowling alley; on the first floor a lobby, game room, lounging room, check room, [p. 63] ladies’ room, office, auditorium, library and writing room and Board of Director’s Room. The second floor contained eight organization rooms, fourteen dormitory rooms and two guest rooms. The third floor contained twenty-eight dormitory rooms.

Dean E. J. Townsend was Chairman of the Building Committee, John Stipes its Treasurer and Dwight Weist the Recording Secretary. Other members were Professor Parr, William B. McKinley, T. J. Burrill (then Vice President of the University), Mrs. S. T. Busey, R. R. Mattis, Professor F. R. Watson, Professor J. C. Thorpe, Edward Hall, Miss Ethel Dobbins and Miss Pearl Barnhart.

A 1908 report on the work of the student department of the Illinois Young Men’s Christian Associations stated: “The past school year has seen the completion of what is perhaps the finest student association building in the world—namely the one at the University of Illinois.” Slightly more than half of the cost of the new building was met by subscriptions from alumni, faculty, students, and other citizens. Billy Sunday was recruited for two fund raising meetings. Proceeds from the sale of lots netted almost $15,000. The balance of the cost, $30,000, was met by a single subscription from William B. McKinley. McKinley, a philanthropist, businessman and political figure was an early resident of Champaign. He attended the Illinois Industrial University for two years. Railroading and heavy construction were his major enterprises, at which he became a multi-millionaire. He was unostentatious and without fanfare made major gifts to many causes. Born in 1856, he died in 1926 and was buried in Champaign. Large numbers of Congressmen and Senators attended his funeral.

At the time he gave the YMCA $30,000 McKinley also donated $20,000 to the endowment fund making a total gift to the Y of $50,000. It is unlikely that the building could have materialized when it did without his help. Later, in 1911, he helped the YWCA in similar fashion with a gift of $20,000 and a loan of $15,000. This resulted in the construction of McKinley Hall across the street from the YMCA building. This was the home of the YWCA until 1966 when the Association sold the building to the University. In 1968 the YWCA moved to a suite of three rooms in the present YMCA building.

The fears which some had about the YMCA attempting to run a major dormitory and food service enterprise and at the same time preserve a viable program attractive to increasing numbers of students were well founded. All the problems of running a residence hall were present plus the fact that members of the community assumed that those who lived in the building were members of the YMCA. This didn’t add to its reputation. In addition, there were problems in managing the bowling alley, the restaurant operated at a loss, and local merchants complained about the competition.

So in 1917 it was leased to the Army for a ground school housing unit. Later it was leased to the Illinois Union, eventually being purchased by the latter. When the Illini Union was consolidated, it was sold to the University. For a short time following the ground school occupancy, the University operated the restaurant as the “Y Cafeteria and Lunchroom,” and its advertising said “formerly YMCA, [p. 64] now operated by the University of Illinois. Clean, wholesome food served under absolutely sanitary conditions in the most inviting surroundings at lowest possible prices. Dainty pastries prepared in our own kitchens from the purest of market products a speciality. Special invitation to Sunday night parties.” Its price list included roast chicken 30 cents, roast beef 15 cents, cream waffles with honey 15 cents, ham sandwich 10 cents, and coffee, cocoa, milk, or tea a nickel.

The building was renamed Illini Hall but the YMCA emblem still graces the entrance.

The Hut

For about a year the Y found itself back in University premises. The President of the University moved in 1917 from a frame house on the corner of Wright and Green Street where the Electrical Engineering building now stands and the YMCA moved into this structure. When the Y moved out a year later this became the University Health Service.

During World War I the National YMCA carried on its program in the war areas in buildings known as “huts.” It seemed appropriate therefore for the University YMCA during the war period to purchase and move into such a building. This it did in 1918. The “Hut” was on the southwest corner of Green and Wright Streets. It had been built by the National War Work Council of the YMCA as a service center for the Student Army Training Corp. A large frame structure all on one floor, it served the Y’s purposes very well. Partitions were erected to make offices. Rugs, curtains and other decorative elements were added and study tables and writing desks were supplied in the main room. It was in a convenient location and became the scene of a busy and varied program.

Though the Y’s occupancy of the Hut outlasted the war, it was terminated when the building burned to the ground on December 18, 1923. So once again the Y found itself homeless and once again the University offered space. The Y staff moved back into three rooms in its former building, now the Union Building, but it also used some space on the second floor of Duncan’s Studio across Green Street from the former location of the Hut and in Hughes Hall, a dance emporium.

Though the Y continued a vigorous program this physical arrangement made its work more difficult. So it commenced casting about for something better.

Two Houses

On the southwest corner of Wright and Chalmers Streets stood two homes owned by University Professors. A building committee appointed in March, 1924, arranged for the purchase of these houses by the YMCA. In recalling seventy-five years of YMCA history, Dean J. C. Blair noted, “So please remember that this present structure in which we are meeting tonight was the homesite of two of our distinguished faculty members. Nearest the corner was Dr. Cyril G. Hopkins’ home and Professor Fraser (Wilbur J.) of Dairy Husbandry lived in the next [p. 65] house south. Also, let me recall that in 1899 Mrs. Blair and I and our small daughter lived in the Hopkins house for a year.” So from no building after the Hut burned in 1923 the Y in 1926 found itself with two buildings.

These two buildings located strategically as they were and with a connecting hallway served the purposes of the Y very well for a number of years. Faculty Forum and other major programs of the Y were either begun or strengthened during the ten years that they were the home of the Y.

The Last Move

Before the appointment of a building committee in 1924 Henry Wilson had been dreaming of an adequate building for the Y. In December, 1922, the Building Committee of the International Committee of the YMCA prepared a blueprint for the “Proposed Student YMCA Building University of Illinois.” Some one had been working on the International Committee. That same winter of 1922-23 Wilson prepared “A Brief Statement Regarding the Young Men’s Christian Association at the University of Illinois.” In the introduction he pointed out the tremendous growth of the University of Illinois between 1880 and 1923 when student numbers increased from 434 to almost 11,000. He then emphasized a number of obligations shared by the University and an organization like the YMCA: to conserve the moral and religious investment made in the lives of students, to train students in service for their own communities, to help men find themselves. “The atmosphere of a state university breeds a breadth of mind and spirit which should be capitalized for the Christian ministry and the secretaryship of the Christian Association. Choice men are here in great numbers.”

The Chief did not believe that men trained to develop the program of the Y and work with young men should have to spend time in administering a large building with commercial features. The experience of the YMCA in Illini Hall had confirmed this feeling in many. The Hut had proved to be much more useful in serving the needs of the Y and promoting its program. He mentioned several features of the old Hut which he felt should be incorporated in a new building—informality of appearance, hospitality evident from the interior, accessibility, and central location.

The Chief was definitely looking toward building and the raising of funds. In the reorganization of the Y in 1922-23 a Board of Trustees consisting of twenty-six men was created. This was in addition to the Board of Directors which managed the Y’s affairs. In his statement he made a plea for an endowment and for a building. At that time the endowment fund stood at $194,500, $75,000 of which had been given in stocks and bonds by William B. McKinley and $119,500 representing the sale of Ilini Hall. With respect to the building, he said it should not be a large one but should be of a service type like the Hut and should be located where the Hut now stands (this was a few months before the Hut burned). He referred to the blueprint supplied by the Building Bureau of the International Committee (prepared by Mr. Neil McMillan, U. of I., class of ’04 [p. 66] and a former Y secretary) and spoke of a “structure of two stories, built of brick, simple of design and attractive in appearance . . . the purpose is to provide a center out from which men will go to serve the campus rather than a building to which we will expect great numbers of men to come.”

At that time cost of the new building was estimated at $202,500-$37,500 for the lot, $130,000 for the building and $35,000 for furnishing. The “brief statement” ended by concluding “We have the conviction that with an adequate building, a needed instrument in this period in our development, we can expand our work so that it will appeal to many people throughout the state resulting in our funds for both current expenses and endowment being increased sufficiently to enable us to develop a comprehensive, virile Christian program, increasing in sufficiency so that we can enlarge our work in order to keep pace with the growing of the University itself commanding the respect, attracting the interest, and enlisting the active support of the strongest leaders in faculty and student life.”

On February 14, 1925, about a year after appointment of the Building Committee, a joint meeting of the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors was held in the Green Teapot. Dean C. M. Thompson, a staunch supporter and faculty leader in the Y for many years, presided. It was a well planned meeting, the objective being to convince the Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors that a new building was needed and to enlist their support in a campaign to raise the money, both for a building and for an endowment fund. Dean Thompson showed a series of lantern slides, one of which depicted the future Wesley Foundation and was captioned “The Methodists are Thinking in Adequate Terms.” Another slide showed a picture of the stadium filled for an Illinois-Michigan game and containing the information that the gasoline and railroad fares which brought spectators to the stadium for the game would run the YMCA’s proposed program for three years.

There were wall exhibits showing the growth of the University, the activities of the Y, and why the building on the corner of Wright and John Streets had been sold to the Student Union. Statements supporting the program of the Y and backing its urge to build and create an endowment fund came from Dean Thomas Arkle Clark, Reverend S. E. Fisher, General Secretary L. C. Haworth of the St. Louis YMCA and from two foreign students. Shu-Mong Ling, President of the Chinese Students Club, and Pedro Orata of the Philippines. Chief Wilson then addressed the group on “Our Need and the Present Situation.” He pointed out that the Y had a good site (the one on the corner of Wright and Chalmers), that the need for a building was critical, and that the building planned is a “simple, dignified structure, accessible and adequate in facilities, meeting places, quiet rooms, and lounge space.” Besides a building and endowment he pointed out that funds for special tasks were also needed. The total requirement came to slightly more than a million dollars—enough to make everyone think seriously about the nature and size of a campaign.

With an endorsement from the two Boards the campaign was launched. Chief Wilson had spent much time and thought on this matter and soon after the [p. 67] meeting produced an “Outline of Procedure for the $1,000,000 Building and Endowment Fund of the Young Men’s Christian Association at the University of Illinois.” The aim was to get large subscriptions. The Outline stated that “it has been the experience in similar undertakings elsewhere that large inspirational subscriptions are necessary to stimulate action, provide encouragement, and assure success.” The grand idea was for four subscriptions totaling $400,000, two subscriptions of $50,000 each, four subscriptions of $25,000 and ten subscriptions of $10,000. The remaining $120,000 would be obtained in miscellaneous amounts of from $500 to $9,000. Indeed this was an ambitious undertaking and, in the light of hindsight, more ambitious than anyone knew at the time—considering the imminence of the Great Depression.

The Outline advised that two donor conditions are necessary to get large gifts—“Financial ability and spiritual interest. Where the first obtains, the second may be created.” Specific ways of appealing to large donors were then listed. Gifts with memorial features and Bronze Tablet recognition were not to be rejected. The Chief’s own experience in raising money for the Y came through in this admonition “If the prospect seems likely to decline, do not permit a decisive answer—but ask him to think it over. Then plan a later interview possibly using another person or committee in the interview. Register expectation in every contact. Do not permit discouragement, have faith, courage, and optimism in all your work.”

To carry on the campaign the Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors were constituted a Ways and Means Committee. General Chairman for the enterprise was Dean Charles M. Thompson. District committees were established and the Boards of Directors of city YMCAs were to be encouraged to appoint cooperating committees. An inaugural dinner kicking off the compaign was to be held in Chicago and it was expected that the victory dinner could be held in Urbana in May, 1926.

Though the plans were well laid, this campaign didn’t get off the ground. Reporting to the Ways and Means Committee in August, 1930, Chief Wilson said: “Some three or four years ago an attempt was made to launch a campaign for building and endowment. Publicity was issued, headquarters were secured in Chicago, help was engaged, a Chairman, Mr. Marshall Sampsell, agreed to serve. Dates for recruiting were set repeatedly by Mr. Sampsell—on every one of which he defaulted. In view of the problems confronting us in the expansion of our own local program, the campaign was abandoned temporarily.”

An attempt to revive the campaign was made and the firm of Pierce & Hedrick was engaged as experts in money-raising endeavors. The firm presented a plan which was agreed to by the Ways and Means Committee, but the plan was not carried out, apparently for failure to get a General Chairman and to get organized in the local community.

So in January, 1930, Chief Wilson himself took over direction of the campaign. Things then commenced to move. Committees were established in nearby towns and lists of prospective committee men and subscribers were prepared. A [p. 68] brochure, “Nine Thousand Men,” was completed and published, items were supplied to the local papers, dinner meetings were held, a state meeting was convened at the University in April, and Mr. B. S. Pearsall of Elgin, President of a dairy manufacturing company agreed to serve as General Chairman. In April, 1930, the outlook was hopeful.

During the summer of 1930 the darkness of the depression deepened. In July Pearsall wrote to the Chief “It is hot weather so we are all irritated. Business is poor so we are all pessimistic.” The purpose of the letter was to explain his own problems, say that he didn’t think he would be a success as General Chairman and that therefore he wished to be relieved of the responsibility. Chief Wilson himself was not completely immune to the heat, the depression and the pressures of his work. His home in Urbana had burned while he was on a fund-raising trip in Chicago, he had for a time been ill—the campaign was sapping his energy, and he like others could only guess at the extent and duration of the economic depression which the country was experiencing. It was truly a time that tried men’s souls. Nevertheless, the Daily Illini carried a four-page spread on May 4, 1930, announcing the opening of the YMCA Building Drive with C. F. Edwards and Jud Timm as student chairmen. The outgoing Y President at the time was Fred Rutherford; the incoming Paul Brines. Besides Dean Thompson the article mentioned Britton, Harno, Kinley, Blair, Burlison and Carmichael as supporters of the drive and said that when the Y’s home was finally constructed it would be “Just a low rambling house of architectural beauty.”

After the delay caused by the Depression, efforts to raise funds were increased in the mid-thirties and by 1937 $270,000 of the $300,000 building cost, which included lots and furnishings, had been raised. The remaining $30,000 was covered by subscriptions yet to be paid.

The May 3, 1937, issue of the Daily Illini published a special page headed “YMCA to Erect New Building.” It traced the background of the Y, pictured some of the principal backers—George Carr, E. C. Heidrich Jr., John Downs, and John Douglas—and described the proposed building, “following the lines of a modified Tudor style of architecture with brick trimmed in stone.” The article explained that one lounge would be dedicated to Clinton C. Murphy by his brother Walter P. Murphy of Chicago, that a memorial library would be dedicated to L. Wilbur Messer, General Secretary of the Chicago YMCA by his widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Garceton Messer, that one of the rooms would be named in memory of Samuel Wilson Parr and that a banquet hall would be known as Latzer Hall. The Latzer gift was a substantial one and spurred the activity which led to the decision to build in 1937.

Contractor for the new building was Pere Anderson, a Chicago firm. Professor M. L. Mosher was Chairman of the Building Committee, but he credits Professor A. B. Mays with doing most of the “overseeing” for the committee. During the interim period of building, the Y occupied temporary quarters at 810 South Sixth Street. Ceremonies for the setting of the cornerstone were held on Sunday, November 21, 1937, with John R. Mott laying the stone. The ceremony [p. 69] was broadcast over radio station WILL. Five months later the Y moved into its new building.

Dedication

A service of dedication for the new building was held in the University Auditorium on the afternoon of Sunday, April 30, 1939. A dinner program of dedication at which Dean J. C. Blair acted as toastmaster had been held the preceding evening in Latzer Hall. A number of past YMCA presidents attended and made remarks—Corliss Anderson, Roger Little, Charles Younger, Dick Youngren, and Louis Hauptfleisch. The principal address that evening was made by Dr. Willis D. Wetherford, President of Berea College and in his younger days a YMCA secretary and associate of John R. Mott. Following his address there were short ceremonies dedicating Murphy Lounge; Messer Library; Parr Louge; the Board Room, named for Dr. Alfred Stevens Burdick; Clark Lounge, named for Thomas Arkle Clark and donated by his wife, Mrs. Alice Broadus Clark; and Latzer Hall.

Dean Blair delivered the dedicatory citation for Latzer Hall, named in memory of Mrs. Lenore Lydia Latzer Gilloon, a 1906 graduate of the University of Illinois, a woman of high personal integrity, generosity, and kindness, especially interested in foreign students and in better international understanding. Her father was one of the founders of the Pet Milk Company. Her brother and sisters, Robert Latzer, Mrs. Irma Gamble and Mrs. Albert Kaeser made the memorial possible.

The Sunday dedication in the University Auditorium was an auspicious occasion. As principal speaker Henry Wilson had been able to get a distinguished British scientist whom the University in previous years had been unable to induce to come to the campus. The Chief’s son, Dr. Henry Wilson recalls that there were some problems with protocol, the University feeling apparently that due to the distinguished character of the speaker it should have a greater hand in arrangements, though it was only because of Chief Wilson’s influence that Sir William appeared on the scene. Sir William Bragg, world renowned physicist and humanitarian, was introduced by a distinguished University of Illinois chemist, Professor George L. Clark.

After an incisive discussion of knowledge, its accumulation and man’s use and misuse of it, Sir William offered the dedicatory prayer and Paul Burt, Director of the Wesley Foundation, gave the benediction.

Through all the ceremonies of dedication and the elation at having a new and beautiful building, Chief Wilson never relented in combatting the feeling that a structure might replace the work of men and that certain problems might automatically be resolved by the very presence of a handsome building. And the realist side of him never permitted his cohorts to forget that the larger the investment, the more it takes to keep it going. He was still pushing for an endowment, hope for which had all but died during the depression.