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| A historical marker outside Main Hall
commemorates the building's architect, A.J. Gibson. |
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Markers provide
campus history
Campus visitors now have signs to help guide them through the University's rich past,
thanks to the UM Alumni Association. Four 3-foot-high aluminum plaques commemorating
the history of campus were unveiled during UM's October Homecoming festivities and will be
placed at various locations on campus to recognize famous University people and places.
The first marker -- placed in front of Main Hall -- commemorates A.J. Gibson, the
architect who designed the building and four others on campus, three of which still stand.
The other markers recognize:
- Memorial Row, a stand of pine trees honoring Montanans killed in action or while serving
stateside during World War I.
- Mike Mansfield, Montana statesman and the nation's longest-serving U.S. Senate majority
leader. UM's Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library carries his and his wife's name.
- Harold Urey, the Nobel laureate for whom Urey Lecture Hall was named. Urey, who won the
1934 Nobel Prize in chemistry, taught at UM during 1919-21.
The markers were the brainchild of University Center director Gary Ratcliff. He got the
idea from Penn State University, where he previously worked. Retired UM archivist Dale
Johnson was brought in as a historical consultant.
The Alumni Association, which funded the project, plans to add a couple of markers on
campus each year.
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