Memorial Union serves as a community center for the University of Missouri

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

 by providing meeting rooms, technology centers, dining facilities, and playing host to many special events. The facility was built in three stages between 1923 and 1963.

It was designed by Jamieson and Spearl

Jamieson and Spearl

Jamieson and Spearl was a St. Louis, Missouri architectural firm that designed most of the buildings built at Washington University at St. Louis and the University of Missouri between 1912 and 1950.-Biography:...

, which designed most of the campus buildings built between 1902 and the 1950s.

History

Walter Miller's

Walter Miller (philologist)

Samuel Walter Miller, LL. D., Litt. D. was an American linguist, Classics scholar and archaeologist responsible for the first American excavation in Greece and a founder of the Stanford University Classics department....

 1919 commencement address called for a memorial to the University's lost soldiers in World War I. Fund raising began in 1921 for a "Memorial Union" and a "Memorial Stadium" to be constructed at the University. The names of the two projects were a tribute to Mizzou alumni who lost their lives during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Students were encouraged to pledge $100 toward the project, and alumni were encouraged to pledge at least $200. After more than $238,000 in pledges, the official groundbreaking took place in November 1921.

Plans for Memorial Union called for one wing for men and one wing for women. Each of the proposed wings would cost $200,000, and the two would be linked by a gothic tower. The Simon Construction Company began work on the tower in January 1923, and the first shipments of cut stone for the tower began arriving in 1924. Construction of the tower was completed after three years and dedicated in November 1926.

Groundbreaking for the North Wing took place as part of 1930 Homecoming activities; however, the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 soon halted construction with only the foundation in place. The tower then stood alone for nearly twenty-five years.

After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, plans were revived for the North Wing, construction began in June 1951, and it was completed for occupation in September 1952. The next major addition to the still unfinished complex was the addition of the A. P. Green Chapel

A. P. Green Chapel

A.P.Green Chapel serves the University of Missouri as a nondenominational gathering place for prayer and meditation. Today it is available for wedding ceremonies, initiation ceremonies and other such events through the Missouri Student Union.- History :...

in 1959. The South Wing of Memorial Union was finally completed in August 1963.

Traditions

Memorial Union honors 117 MU men who lost their lives in service to the United States during World War I. Their names are inscribed on the inside walls of the tower archway. In a tradition that dates back to a time when most men wore hats, whenever one walks beneath the archway, they are to tip their hat as a sign of respect to their deceased brothers. A plaque was later added inside the north wing in which the names of 338 MU men who lost their lives in World War II were inscribed. Another student tradition in regard to walking beneath the tower archway at Memorial Union, is for students to hold their breath or they will fail their next test.