Memorial Union Miscellany

This ISU tour is getting tedious, I know, but here are a few parting shots from the Memorial Union building. Above, there’s one more look at The Fountain of the Four Seasons.

Forgive me, but I love all this ornate classical detailing. Lots of thought went into it.

The ornamentation would not have been necessary, of course, but it surely is eye-catching. Nothing too classical about a campus bookstore, but it happens to be located in the Union, too.

Graceful ceilings, railings, light fixtures abound…..

And, quotes engraved here and there……

“TO SET THE CAUSE ABOVE RENOWN

TO LOVE THE GAME BEYOND THE PRIZE”

Sir H. J. Newbolt---whom I’d never heard of before---offers a good thought there, to anyone who happens to gaze above the doorway, anyhow. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can tell you that his full name is Sir Henry John Newbolt, and he was an English poet (1862-1938), probably popular around the time this Memorial Union building was constructed.

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I hope you are loving your game today!

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ISU Gold Star Hall

Inside the north entrance of the Iowa State University Memorial Union is Gold Star Hall.

Those who have read my blog in the past may recall that I have a thing for stained-glass windows. The designs here in Gold Star Hall are very intricate and I wish there’d have been more time to study the details, but we were on a tight schedule.

The window designs were created by stained-glass artist Harold W. Cummings, a 1918 graduate of ISU. A very detailed explanation of their symbolism can be found HERE. In case you don’t have time to take the link, here is an excerpt from it: A committee had been appointed on March 9, 1942 to develop a concept for the windows and to ensure their completion. Mr. Cummings took over when they finished their work. It was his job to translate their ideas into stained glass. The beautiful windows in Gold Star Hall are the result of a year of work by Cummings Studios of San Francisco.

The above design shows the Iowa State College shield, “Science With Practice”. Twelve “homely virtues” are also depicted in the windows……Learning, Virility, Courage, Patriotism, Justice, Faith, Determination, Love, Obedience, Loyalty, Integrity, Tolerance.

I was in too much of a hurry when I snapped these photos---only “Loyalty” (above) and “Love” (below) turned out halfway clear enough for posting.

Sigh......someday I hope to spend more time contemplating the stained-glass scenes in Gold Star Hall.

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ISU Memorial Union – North Entrance

Iowa State University Memorial Union, here we come. We’re gazing upon the north entrance of this classical-style building, with The Fountain of the Four Seasons nearby. Concerning the fountain, the ISU website states:

The fountain was a gift from the 1937 VEISHEA Committee. In 1942, Christian Petersen, a Danish sculptor who became Iowa State’s artist-in-residence, added four sculptures to represent the four seasons. The east sculpture represents spring with the planting of corn; south - summer, sheltering a young plant; west - fall, holding the harvest; and north - winter, nursing a child.

If you look upwards before you walk through the Union's north doorway, you’ll see this:

Once inside the north entry, you must walk across or around this Zodiac in the floor……

This ISU website states:

Architect/designer W.T. Proudfoot chose to incorporate the ancient symbols of the zodiac into the north entry floor, a classic mythology in a classic-style building. In the 20's, the zodiac was not as well known as it is now. Proudfoot planned for intentional wearing away of the bronze forms by placing them above the surface of the floor - to be sculpted further by building users until, eventually, they would be the same level as the floor. We know that by 1929, students had decided that if you stepped on the zodiac, you'd flunk your next test, and now most students, hedging their bets, walk around. If you accidently invoke the curse, you can throw a coin in the fountain to take it away.

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There’s much more to come from the ISU Memorial Union……stay tuned.

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ISU – Lake Laverne

Never let it be said that the ISU campus lacks a body of water…..behold Lake Laverne. It could be said a more appropriate name would have been Laverne Pond, but peace and serenity is there, regardless.

Evidently, my son had already heard of the swan couple who live here for as soon as we reached the lake he immediately told me to look for them. This ISU link contains information about Lake Laverne and the swans.

It was high noon by the sun (1 p.m.) as we strolled along the lake path……the swan-glow was almost too bright for our eyes.

And, not to be outdone, a sun-basking turtle caught our attention with his exuberant shining and stretching.

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In the background of the first photo is the Memorial Union building, scenes of which will be in upcoming posts.

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ISU Campanile

The Iowa State campanile towers proudly above the tree-line along the south edge of the central campus field.

Here is an ISU library website full of fascinating information about the campanile. Links include:

History of the Campanile

History of the Bells

Images of the Campanile

Ten of the bells have inscriptions. Here’s a sampling:

Ring merrily, ye chimes, evermore. --- Charles McKay

Harmonizing this earth with what we feel above. --- Shelley

Every deed of goodness done is like a chord set in the heart. --- Thomas MacKellan

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep….God is not dead, nor does he sleep. The wrong shall fail. The right prevail. With peace on earth, goodwill to men. --- Longfellow (One of my all-time favorite quotes.)

The architectural details around the base are very beautiful. These photos don’t do them justice; we were walking with the tour group and there wasn’t much time for loitering around taking pictures.

I enjoyed the view looking north through the shaded base out onto the sunny central campus field. You can’t tell it from the photo, but the scene was quite stunning, especially at first glance.

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(Have I mentioned that this ISU campus tour involved LOTS and LOTS of walking. Oh, my aching feet…..even in “comfortable” shoes!)

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P.S. – Here’s one more photo……a zoomed-in look at the details of the top of the campanile tower:

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ISU “Firsts”

On our Iowa State campus tour, we walked by Carver Hall, named for George Washington Carver.

Carver was born into slavery in Diamond Grove, Missouri, sometime between 1860 and 1864. His parents were lost to Confederate slave raiders. Formal education of blacks was not widespread, and only through his own tenacity did Carver become Iowa State's first African-American college graduate, earning a bachelor of science degree in 1894 and a master of science degree in 1896. (This paragraph and the photo below are taken from “pollutionissues.com”)

From Wikipedia: In 1890, Carver started studying art and piano at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. His art teacher, Etta Budd, recognized Carver's talent for painting flowers and plants and convinced him to study botany at Iowa State Agricultural College in Ames. He transferred there in 1891, the first black student and later the first black faculty member. In order to avoid confusion with another George Carver in his classes, he began to use the name George Washington Carver. (The art teacher who recognized Carver’s talent for painting flowers and plants had the last name of “Budd”. How cool is that!)

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Here’s a “first” that stands tall on the ISU campus, The Marston Water Tower:

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In the Durham Building, we walked by a replica of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer:

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To wrap up this post……displayed all across campus were banners bearing names of Distinguished Alumni of ISU. I snapped a photo of one of them and it happens to be Theodore Kooser, a local Ames boy who became a Poet Laureate of the United States, and a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2005.

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Catt Hall

Continuing on our ISU campus tour…….if you stroll northward along the tree-shaded sidewalk from Curtiss Hall, you will reach Catt Hall, named in honor of Carrie Chapman Catt, a girl from rural Iowa who attended college here in Ames, graduating in 1880.

She was the only woman in her college graduating class! I try to imagine what inspired her motivation to attend college back in that day and age. Maybe she grew up hearing her mother and/or father say things like, “Girls are just as smart as boys, Carrie”, or “A girl could go to college, Carrie”.

Carrie Chapman Catt went on to be a leader in the women’s suffrage movement and founded The League of Women Voters.

The “Plaza of Heroines” surrounds the front steps of Catt Hall.

As our tour group milled about amongst the engraved bricks, I searched for recognizable names. My son kept muttering, “C’mon, Mom, let’s keep moving.” At the last second, I spied “Ruth Suckow” and recalled that she was an author from Iowa.

In the afternoon, I returned to the Plaza of Heroines for another look around and found “Lou Henry Hoover”, who became the wife of President Herbert Hoover. When she attended Stanford University in the 1890’s, she was the school’s only female geology major. Cool!

Here’s a well-known name:

And, another:

And, the artist, P. Buckley Moss, who has included many Iowa landmarks in her unique paintings.

Well, I enjoyed learning about Carrie Chapman Catt, of whom I was plenty ignorant. Her name seemed vaguely familiar; probably she was mentioned in our Iowa History unit back in fifth grade. (How could I have forgotten?) I admire her determination and accomplishments on behalf of women’s rights, and am proud that she and her sense of fair play sprang from rural Iowa.

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ISU Tour Day

Yesterday my son and I drove to Ames, Iowa, for a prospective-student tour of the Iowa State University campus. Its safe to say I spent most of the day in wide-eyed awe of the venerable old buildings with their ornate architectural details. I took enough photos to last for several posts (imagine that); these scenes are of Curtiss Hall, a focal point of ISU’s College of Agriculture.

This apex-dwelling guardian would probably be Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture, justice, and strength.

Next we see my son in the shadows of the Curtiss Hall columns contemplating a dash over to Beardshear Hall, which houses Financial Aid offices, etc.

Campus tradition states that if you can complete a trip from the top of the steps of Curtiss to the top of the steps of Beardshear during the 12 o’clock pealing of the campanile bells, then you’re a “pretty fast” runner. Our tour guide stated that ISU has been designated one of the three most beautiful campuses in the U.S.---by a national architectural association---the other two honorees being Yale and the U of Virginia.

Wonderful architectural details everywhere!

Even cattle skulls were deemed worthy of inclusion……two stood guard over the front entry doors of Curtiss Hall, appearing to be attempting to hide the building’s dedicated purpose……of “EDUCATION”, most likely. Probably not “EVOLUTION” or “EMOTION”.

We’ve only just begun…….there are lots of photos in my ISU Tour file.

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I’m feeling overwhelmed by lots of things right now, and am plagued by guilt at not responding to your thoughtful and clever comments. For that reason, I’m going to turn off the comments for awhile. You can instead reach me by email, if you wish: junebug1976@hotmail.com

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Here’s a quick tirade…..right at this moment I’m sick and tired of chores, of fixing meals, of laundry, of mowing lawn….blah, blah, blah. Mothers, don’t let your daughters grow up to be like me……unmotivated, undisciplined, unfocused, along with a host of other “uns”!

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Dog Days & The Cosmos

Its been incredibly uneventful…..(peaceful, actually)…..here on the farm today……so much so that I took to photographing the “unwild” annual flowers that are currently a-blooming. Wildflowers are my first love, you know.

This flower is a Cosmos, of course. It must have sprang from the packet of mixed flower seeds I haphazardly tossed into a random corner of the garden last spring. As a kid, I absolutely loved Cosmos……probably due to unconsciously wishing to be like them……graceful blooms atop a tall, slender stem, plus having a really cool name.

In this next photo, the Cosmos’ center didn’t turn out as clearly as I would have liked, but its getting posted regardless.

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Speaking of The Cosmos……we are now in the Dog Days of summer. Do you think those two subjects are connected? They are, though I wasn’t aware of it until just a few years ago. I grew up thinking the name “Dog Days” came from the fact that this was the sweltering time of summer when all we humans felt capable of doing was loafing around in the shade…..like dogs do.

The truth is that the term “Dog Days” has connections to the very ancient past, and to Sirius, the “Dog Star”! Read more about it here and here. Seriously fascinating stuff! (I seem to have lost track of the former font.)

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As mentioned above, things are relatively quiet around the farm right now. With no hay or straw needing baled, Husband felt free to fly the coop for the day, so he headed to Wisconsin to visit his brother and attend an antique tractor show. I think its official name is The 38th Annual Western Wisconsin Agricultural Museum Reunion, with this year’s feature being Allis-Chalmers tractors and farm equipment.

My son and I are holding down the fort here at home, doing the necessary livestock chores throughout the day. It may be the Dog Days season, but today’s weather has been cool and comfortable. Actually, until noon it was too chilly to sit on the porch without long sleeves and pants. My coffee mug and I usually park ourselves out there after morning chores, to take care of any needed bookwork or bill-paying, enjoying the background serenade of sighing pine trees, whispering maple and ash trees, and chirping, twittering birds. That’s the brand of Twitter for me!

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Best wishes for a very pleasant weekend!
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