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 Memorial Union: The Transcendent Tower
The History of Memorial Tower
The seeds for a student union were planted on MU’s campus in 1915. The following year, university alumni approved construction and hired the architectural firm Jamieson & Spearl to design an English Gothic union. Missouri Union was to provide all alumni a home in Columbia and give students a common gathering place. At this time, Mizzou already had over 100 social and academic clubs, honorary and social fraternities and sororities, and professional organizations. The U. S. entry into the First World War delayed construction, but it resumed in the early 1920s, now as a memorial monument to honor students who died in the war. Completed in 1926, the bell tower was the first phase of construction. The Great Depression and legal entanglements halted construction on the remainder of the union. The north wing, A. P. Green Chapel, and south wing were not finished until 1952, 1959, and 1963, respectively.
Tower construction, 6/15/1925 (Courtesy of University Archives, C:0/47/12)
Tower construction, 1/14/1926 (Courtesy of University Archives, C:0/47/12)
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