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The Rise of Memorial Stadium · Nebraska History Podcast

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The following episode features a historic article from the
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Nebraska History magazine. This article may reflect the
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language and attitudes of its time and while it offers
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valuable insight into the past, may contend expressions or
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viewpoints that are outdated or offensive by today's standards.
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Any outdated terms do not reflect the current views or
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perspectives of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
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Welcome to the Nebraska History podcast.
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I'm your host, Chris Goforth. Each episode we explore articles
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written and published in Nebraska History Magazine.
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Nebraska's Memorial Stadium is one of the nation's iconic
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college football venues. It's construction almost didn't
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happen due to the severe economic challenges of the time.
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On this episode, we find out how a tribute to the state's World
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War One veterans became a reality through the 1998
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Nebraska History Magazine article Give Till It Hurts
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financing Memorial Stadium Written by Michelle Fagan People
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say that on many Saturday afternoons in the fall, Memorial
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Stadium on the University of Nebraska campus in Lincoln is
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the third largest population center in the state, along with
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the state Capitol. It is one of the most
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recognizable buildings in Lincoln, and the two actually
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have several things in common. Both structures are memorials to
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the servicemen and women of World War One.
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Hartley Burr Alexander, chair of the university's philosophy
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department, chose the inscriptions for both the
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stadium and the capital were major construction projects
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requiring significant resources just when Nebraska was
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experiencing a serious economic depression.
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It is a tribute to Nebraskans persistence that they were
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completed. Getting the stadium constructed,
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however, took immense effort and involved serious financial risk.
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The credit for seeing the project through goes to the
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University of Nebraska Alumni Association, especially to
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Harold Holtz, its executive secretary, and to all of the
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subscribers willing or not. The stadium was built without
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state funding and its construction depended on money
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pledged and paid by university students, staff, alumni, and
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well wishers. When the University of Nebraska
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football team played its first game in November of 1890 against
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the YMCA team in Omaha, the campus boasted only a grandstand
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and bleachers. After the turn of the century,
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sports enthusiasts, alumni, faculty, and students hoped for
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something more impressive. In 1918, after the United States
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had been at war with Germany for several months, the student
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newspaper, the Daily Nebraskan encouraged its readers to call
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for better sports facilities for quote this important part of
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college education. End Quote.
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Football coach EJ Stewart emphasized how much college
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athletics helped prepare young men heading for the Army or Navy
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training camps. The war, of course, slowed
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building projects on campus, but when hostilities ended in
3:00
November 1918, work resumed on the social sciences and teachers
3:06
college buildings. The university's Board of
3:08
Regents strongly supported more construction and placed a new
3:12
gymnasium, observatory, museum and library at the top of the
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list in the budget that it presented to the state
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Legislature. The student newspaper backed the
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budget request, noting that Nebraska taxpayers and
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legislators spared no expense for housing and providing for
3:29
livestock. They should treat the students
3:31
equally by providing for their physical and mental development.
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Naturally, it hurt to learn that the Iowa State Aggies had
3:40
refused to send their basketball team to Lincoln to play in the
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Cornhuskers Little Brick Barn, and this snub further fueled
3:48
arguments for better athletic facilities.
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When the university celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1919, it
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needed a new gymnasium and stadium, it wanted to honor its
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servicemen, and it had an alumni organization willing to be more
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active. These goals and needs eventually
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melded together with the formation of the Nebraska
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Memorial Association. The university had 2300 stars in
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its service flag representing alumni, students and faculty who
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had joined the armed forces during World War One.
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More than 100 had lost their lives.
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General John Jay Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary
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Force, was a former military science instructor at Nebraska
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and had received a degree there. The goal became a permanent
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memorial to remind Nebraskans of the sacrifice these individuals
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had made for their country. In March 1919, the N Club
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members proposed a memorial for Roscoe Dusty Rhodes, captain
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elect of the 1918 football team, who had been killed in France.
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They considered a new gymnasium, a playing field or a memorial
5:02
tablet. The Daily Nebraskan editor
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thought that the gymnasium or field would be much more
5:08
worthwhile than a tablet. When the Board of Regents asked
5:12
official university architect Charles Hodgdon of Chicago to
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submit sketches for a possible gymnasium, its construction
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looked imminent, at least to the students.
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Chancellor Samuel Avery asked Hodgdon to hold the plans to a
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quote, reasonable size. As one of the athletic people,
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Doctor Stewart is an inflationist of the first rank.
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End Quote. Sentiment in favor of a
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gymnasium or stadium hardened in the university community.
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In January 1920, a committee working on a memorial met with
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alumni association officials to discuss a joint effort.
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The Daily Nebraskan fervently supported this idea on the
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grounds that an athletic building would be the most
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fitting thing, Quote. To build the physical and mental
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life of young people. End Quote.
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Enthusiasm ran high, and the Nebraska Memorial Association,
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composed of alumni, although not officially part of the alumni
6:06
association, was formed to begin fundraising in March 1920.
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Guy Reed, a 1911 graduate, became chairman of the Nebraska
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Memorial Association's executive committee, and Vincent Haskell,
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class of 1912, was the executive secretary.
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The Nebraska Soldiers and Sailors Memorial was projected
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to be an impressive complex with the museum for public and
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private collections of artifacts related to the various wars
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Nebraskans had participated in. It included a stadium, a
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gymnasium, and an assembly room for veterans gatherings.
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Rooms were designated for the permanent headquarters of the
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Grand Army of the Republic, the American Legion, the Spanish
6:48
American War veterans and other groups.
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The focal point of the structure would be a Rotunda with pictures
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of battle scenes. Avery wanted a Plaza with small
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parks scattered throughout in front of the memorial building,
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and Regent John R Webster called for a Broad Street in front of
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the gymnasium. The memorial was going to be a
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monument to all Nebraskans who had served their country.
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The new association wanted to raise $1 million to build a
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combination gymnasium and stadium.
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Members decided to begin the subscription campaign during the
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week of May 17th, 1920. Supporters in Lincoln and Omaha
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were expected to come up with $200,000 respectively.
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The people all over Nebraska would give the rest.
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The university community also hoped for state help.
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Chancellor Avery believed A legislative appropriation would
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have to supplement whatever money the fundraising brought
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in. He did not think individual
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subscribers would give all of the necessary funds.
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Quote. But if we make a good showing,
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the Legislature will supplement it.
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End Quote. The campus fundraising began
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officially on May 20th, 1920, when classes were dismissed for
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two hours so students could attend a special convocation at
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which Chancellor Avery Guy Reed and various professors spoke and
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the band played. For several weeks before the
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campaign on campus actually began, students had been urged
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to give till it hurts. Organizers asked the students
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with automobiles to help canvas Lincoln.
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In early June 1920, the Lincoln and Omaha campaigns began.
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The Lincoln press reports were upbeat when questioned about
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memorials being planned elsewhere in the state.
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Executive Secretary Haskell emphatically stated quote, not a
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community has been approached but has been enthusiastic and
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promised its quota in short time.
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End Quote Campaign backers said public sentiment was on their
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side and the $87,000 in subscriptions received from just
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14 of the 25 districts proved it.
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These expectations, however, were overly sanguine in the real
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world, outside the newspaper stories, The fundraising Dr. was
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in trouble, a faltering economy and resistance from certain
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groups in Nebraska Hanford it Even as the Nebraska Memorial
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Association was establishing committees in each county to
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solicit subscriptions, Letters came in telling of hard times,
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low crop and beef prices, and the animosity of some local
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editors, American Legion chapters and bank managers.
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In Schuyler, the local editor, RH Adams, opposed the idea of a
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stadium, although he was dissuaded from writing a
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negative editorial. The town had already raised
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$5000 for its own monument in and around Valentine.
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Quote. People have been through a long
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hard winter. Last fall our cattlemen were
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bumped hard on the market and owing to a dry summer the
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farmers crops are short. End Quote In Albion, the banks
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were discouraging quote, all kinds of collections and trading
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to get people back to earth again.
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End Quote Managers of the town's two oldest financial
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institutions were, quote, fully against raising this money.
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End Quote Some people like the idea of a stadium or a
10:19
gymnasium, but thought the state legislature should fund it.
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Some Nebraskans approved of the memorial, but they wanted one
10:27
closer to home. Takaima residents had raised
10:31
several $1000 to purchase a building for the American
10:34
Legion. And they quote, would rather
10:36
give that much more for something which would be local
10:39
and could be enjoyed by all rather than give a cent to be
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placed in a memorial at Lincoln. End Quote.
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In Nance County, quote, the American Legion is making a big
10:50
kick on the Nebraska Memorial Drive.
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They are working for a building of their own and think that it
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will injure their chances of putting it across if they push
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the University drive at the same time, End Quote.
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Local businessmen are standing with the local boys.
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The same was true in Hastings, where the American Legion Post
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was, quote, unanimously adverse to any such campaign in this
11:13
county because they want to save all the Thunder they have for
11:17
their own campaign. End Quote.
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In Saline County, some believe the ex soldiers should be
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consulted and people quote are inclined to question whether it
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the stadium would be the most advisable memorial for the
11:30
soldiers out in the state. End Quote.
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Local people had already collected $15,000 for a building
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in Crete. Quote.
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We hardly believe the sentiment either of the soldiers or
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civilians is the back of the program you propose.
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End Quote. In the face of such resistance,
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the campaign ground to a halt. Perhaps the Nebraska Memorial
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Association had not allowed itself enough time to get
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organized. The reply of WW Dayton, the
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chairman appointed in Saline County, suggested that neither
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he nor his committee had learned of the project until they were
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informed that they were on the committee.
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Some committee members may not have pressed for donations as
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hard as they should have. Vincent Haskell, for example,
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thought that donating quote should be a spontaneous
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contribution from the people of the state, activated by a
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patriotic motive. End Quote.
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Given the lack of advanced planning and the completion from
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other memorial projects, the goal of $1 million for the grand
12:32
complex was unrealistic. Originally, Chancellor Avery and
12:37
alumni and the Board of Regents hoped for some state funding.
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The Regents requested $350,000 in the budget request to the
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Legislature, A matching Some would be raised through
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subscriptions. Governor Samuel Mckelvey and the
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Legislature agreed to set aside $250,000 for the stadium and
12:57
gymnasium. General John J Pershing
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applauded this news during his speech at the university's 1921
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commencement. Telling Chancellor Avery to put
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me down for my share, Sir. An agricultural depression hit
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Nebraska in 1921 when wartime high prices, government price
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guarantees, and foreign demand all disappeared.
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The economic situation ultimately dominated and
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overshadowed all else. By August 1921, when the
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economic depression really began to be felt, the governor ordered
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Allstate agencies, including the university, to set up a special
13:36
reserve fund with 10% of the state appropriation, which could
13:40
not be spent without the governor's approval.
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Soon, Chancellor Avery gathered his faculty together to decide
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what could be cut from the university's budget.
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In October 1921, Harold Holt, the newly elected secretary of
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the Alumni Association, decided to terminate the 1920 fund drive
14:01
and reorganize the county committees on campus.
14:05
The Innocents had already reported that the spring of 1921
14:09
was not a good time to be asking students for money.
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Further damage to the fundraising prospects came when
14:16
the governor called a special session of the Legislature in
14:19
January of 1922, which, among other things, reduced the
14:24
university's appropriation by half.
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The Legislature went one better and cut stadium funding from the
14:31
budget altogether. The university lost this money
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in part because the state budget had become a political issue.
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Just when the school had a rapidly growing student body and
14:43
started asking for more money. Both Governor Mckelvey, a
14:47
Republican, and his successor, Democrat Charles Bryan, stood
14:51
for fiscal retrenchment. Given Nebraska's economic
14:55
situation, voters liked the sound of this.
14:58
Some of them had already been complaining that the university
15:01
was becoming too large and too expensive.
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Disheartened at these developments were planners in
15:06
the university circles still carried on with the memorial
15:10
idea despite the bad economic situation and the lack of state
15:13
funds. On April 7th, 1922, the Board of
15:17
Regents turned over responsibility for stadium
15:20
funding to the Alumni Association.
15:23
The original Memorial Association transferred all its
15:26
books, a little over $14,000 in cash and more than $100,000 in
15:31
pledges, to the Alumni Association.
15:34
This would be the group's biggest project since it was
15:37
organized in 1874. This time, the Alumni
15:42
Association Executive Committee would directly oversee the
15:45
fundraising to enable the association to collect money.
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The executive committee incorporated as a separate
15:52
nonprofit organization in March 1923, again using the name
15:57
Nebraska Memorial Association. The new memorial association
16:01
could buy and sell property, collect money, and sue.
16:05
The new Nebraska Memorial Association set lower, more
16:08
realistic goals. Instead of trying to raise $1
16:11
million, it aimed for $450,000. The gymnasium, stadium
16:18
combination with the museum, meeting rooms and the pictures
16:21
became just a stadium. The new association may have
16:25
hoped to get something similar to the first grand plans quote,
16:30
but after the bids were opened, it was reduced to a cold
16:33
practical question of adjusting the structure to the amount of
16:37
money available. End Quote.
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During the transitional period from 1 Memorial Association to
16:43
another, the architect had also been changed.
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Hodgdon of Chicago, was replaced by John Lattenser of Omaha and
16:51
Ellery Davis of Lincoln. The new architects were
16:55
Nebraskans and they had gone to the university, although
16:58
Lattenser did not receive his degree there.
17:01
Both men donated their professional services as their
17:04
contribution to the stadium project.
17:07
Harold Holtz, secretary of both the Alumni Association and the
17:10
new Nebraska Memorial Association, calculated that
17:13
those services would be worth between 15,000 and $18,000.
17:19
Holtz was a 1917 Nebraska graduate who had been active in
17:23
the Pershing Rifles and chosen for membership in the Innocence
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Society, a group of senior men selected for their character and
17:30
leadership ability. During World War One.
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He had trained as an aviator and served on the Austrian front.
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He would be a major force behind the new stadium.
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Dr. Holtz first found out who were the graduates and former
17:45
students in each county. He believed that the first
17:49
committee had not asked as many of the alumni as possible to
17:52
contribute, and he was not going to make that mistake again.
17:56
As executive secretary of the Alumni Association, he proposed
18:00
a new, updated alumni directory and relaxed membership
18:04
requirements. Before this time, people who
18:07
attended but did not graduate from the university were not
18:10
eligible to belong to the association.
18:13
Now they could be members would be listed in the directory and
18:17
would definitely receive pledge requests.
18:21
Holtz appointed a chairman for each county and began sending
18:24
these people the names of current students, ex students
18:27
and graduates. Each county had a financial
18:30
quota determined by the number of resident graduates there.
18:34
The payment plan called for 20% down and 10% every six months.
18:39
Campaign workers were told to put on a confident front.
18:42
Act like the pledge would be a matter of course.
18:46
Holtz had a follow up system for collecting pledges that would
18:50
not let procrastinators get away.
18:52
He wanted the whole campaign run like a business venture.
18:57
He often told students and others that he would, quote keep
19:00
right on every delinquent account, End Quote, and that the
19:03
pledge was a plain business proposition that confronts us
19:07
all. Fremont, with a $2000 quota,
19:11
demonstrates how a county or town was organized.
19:15
The city campaign started off with a banquet at the Hotel
19:18
Pathfinder. Perhaps because the stadium
19:20
would be a War Memorial, the newspaper described the
19:23
organization in military terms. The chair had an able staff of
19:28
officers. JC Cook, the commander in chief
19:31
of the Dodge County squad, attended the banquet.
19:35
Fremont had been divided. Earl Lee was the general of
19:39
Division A, General Lee's army. His team elected captains and
19:43
lieutenants. Quote.
19:45
The alumni of Dodge County does not mean to be among those who
19:48
failed to contribute towards the progress of its alma mater.
19:52
End Quote. Some chairman and campaign
19:54
workers wanted something in return for their laborers
19:58
football tickets. One of the campaign workers in
20:00
Nebraska City could not get tickets for the 1922 Notre Dame
20:04
game and she was furious. Like some other people, she sent
20:09
in the money for tickets, but her check was returned.
20:11
Quote. They are getting awful sore,
20:14
they say. Lincoln is playing the hog as
20:16
usual, taking all the tickets and leaving none for the rest of
20:19
the state. End Quote.
20:21
In Pender quote. Four of the boys here who are
20:24
enthusiastic football fans want to go to the game, and they
20:28
insist that they will not take part in the Stadium drive unless
20:31
they get some tickets. End Quote.
20:34
Donors also expected favorable treatment.
20:37
A Lincoln man who gave $100 quote will gladly accept
20:41
hereafter the privilege of making reservations ahead of the
20:44
general public. End Quote.
20:46
Owners of the Crete mills worried they would lose their
20:49
place on the list for advance ticket reservations because they
20:52
had paid their subscription. The financial problems in
20:55
opposition that plagued the fund drive in 1920 had not
20:59
disappeared by 1922 and could make the county chairman's jobs
21:03
difficult in Garden County, quote.
21:06
The beet sugar company and the railroads have skinned this
21:09
county of all its year's profits, End Quote.
21:12
In Broken Bow, a man, quote, stirred up such a rumpus in
21:16
regard to the new stadium, he has created a hard feeling all
21:20
over this county, End Quote. The area around Bridgeport was
21:24
quote hard hit by the financial depression, End Quote, and many
21:27
businessmen could not collect money owed them.
21:31
Quote every day or so somebody turns his stuff into the bank
21:35
and skips the county, leaving his creditors holding the sack.
21:39
End Quote. Mother Nature and bad roads kept
21:43
some county organizers and solicitors from getting a quick
21:45
start. The worker assigned to Cass
21:48
County was ready to go on as soon as the roads there dried.
21:51
In Cheyenne County, the weather made it impossible to get out
21:54
into the county immediately. Lincoln businessman greeted the
21:58
stadium drive with open arms. In fact, the Chamber of Commerce
22:02
worked as the soliciting agent for the Alumni Association to
22:06
meet its $150,000 quota. Many members had probably
22:10
attended the university and the proposal looked like a good
22:14
business opportunity. They were not unmindful that the
22:17
stadium would contribute quote, to the welfare of all the
22:20
interest in the city more than any other thing that has come
22:24
into our life. End Quote.
22:26
The citizens oversubscribed by $15,000.
22:30
Familiar corporate names appeared among the large donors,
22:33
including Woods Brothers for 5000 and Miller and Payne for
22:37
$10,000. The Omaha drive, on the other
22:40
hand, caused grave concern. In April 1922, the Regents and
22:46
several Omaha men meant to discuss a strategy.
22:50
Holtz often complained that the city's fundraisers were not
22:54
doing anything. In February 1923, he pressed the
22:58
organizers to get everything done before Creighton University
23:02
started its fund. Dr. Holtz reported to the Board
23:05
of Regents and Chancellor Avery that he had been, quote,
23:08
extremely disappointed in the campaign in Omaha.
23:12
We are informed, however, by Regent FW Judson that the
23:15
balance will be raised. But the delay in this matter has
23:19
been extremely embarrassing. End Quote In April, he urged
23:23
Judson to finish the Omaha drive.
23:25
Quote. The amount which we have been
23:27
expecting from Omaha is the amount which stands between
23:30
having the stands for our football season this fall or not
23:33
having them. End Quote.
23:35
Around the state, the drive did receive support, sometimes from
23:39
unexpected sources. Many counties and towns
23:43
subscribed their quota. Some even oversubscribed, like
23:47
Clay Center, where Chairman Charles Epperson Junior reported
23:50
that most of the donors were businessmen who had not gone to
23:54
the university. But this is a great football
23:56
town. Cy Sherman, the Lincoln sports
24:00
writer who named the football team the Cornhuskers, also
24:03
contributed. So did alumni like George
24:06
Flippen, a former football team member and the first African
24:09
American player, and Carlos Almanis, who had returned to his
24:13
native Latvia and had become the nation's Prime Minister.
24:17
A winning football game made one fan enthusiastic enough to
24:21
increase his total donation to $1000.
24:24
Quote. Because of the very good work
24:27
done by the team this day. End Quote.
24:30
Edwin Squires from near Broken Bow donated 2 pigs he was
24:34
raising the animals quote will doubtless be auctioned off at
24:37
the Syracuse game. End Quote.
24:40
Inmates belonging to the State Penitentiary Dramatic Club
24:44
staged a performance for the general public with the proceeds
24:47
going to the Stadium Fund. Quote.
24:49
Because of the kindness of the university to the penitentiary,
24:53
the inmates felt that they really owed this much.
24:56
End Quote. High schools and at least one
24:59
grade school donated money. Lincoln Schools, of course,
25:02
gave, but so did those in Beatrice, Aurora, North Platte,
25:05
Edgar, Wilbur and Pender on campus.
25:09
The Innocence Society had charge of organizing the drive among
25:13
the students, but the alumni association also planned to get
25:16
pledges from faculty and staff. The faculty and staff were
25:20
encouraged to pledge a percentage of their salaries to
25:23
the Stadium fund. LF Seton, the operations
25:26
supervisor and purchasing agent, canvassed all the physical plant
25:31
employees. Pledge commitments followed
25:33
staff even though they had left the university, as one faculty
25:37
member who moved to the University of Arizona found out
25:41
in October of 1922. The innocents set about tapping
25:45
the student body by talking to the presidents of the
25:48
fraternities, the sororities, and honor societies like Mortar
25:52
Board or Silver Serpents. Student leaders strongly
25:55
encouraged each president to make a big sales pitch to the
25:58
members of his or her group and challenge them to reach their
26:02
quota before any others. The Campus Dr. organizers
26:06
counted on each student pledging $25, payable over 2 years for a
26:12
total of $90,000. Two 100 campaigners set out with
26:17
a goal to approach every student.
26:19
They worked in pairs and we're told that the results were what
26:23
counted. Canvassers also had to report on
26:26
the outcome of each contact. The Student Dr. netted $112,000
26:32
in subscriptions. The Nebraska Memorial
26:35
Association promised that home games would be played in the new
26:38
stadium in the fall of 1923, when enough pledges had been
26:43
subscribed, although not all had been collected, the association
26:47
risked letting the contracts Parson Construction Company of
26:51
Omaha would build the stadium. The firm bid $548,849, which
26:58
was, quote, more than $100,000 above the amount now available.
27:02
End Quote Forcing the Memorial Association to eliminate some
27:06
features of the plan until more money could be raised.
27:09
Colonnades enclosing the North and South ends and a tower
27:13
section in the east stands were eliminated, but the seating
27:17
capacity of 30,000 was not reduced.
27:20
Roberts Construction of Lincoln received the grading contract.
27:24
All excess dirt would be sold to the Lincoln School Board.
27:28
The construction schedule called for Parsons to finish the
27:31
concrete and steel work on the West grandstand 120 days after
27:36
starting and on the east grandstand within 130 days.
27:40
The wooden seats would be installed 30 days after the
27:43
stands were finished. The company kept to its schedule
27:46
and must have had a university students in the workforce.
27:49
Holtz was gratified quote to know that a great deal of the
27:52
actual work on the stadium was done by students who were
27:56
working their way through school.
27:57
End Quote On April 26th, 1923, at the stadium groundbreaking,
28:04
Chancellor Avery turned the first earth ceremoniously with a
28:07
plow and team quote, throwing the reins over his shoulder in
28:11
true dirt farmer fashion and quote.
28:14
In June, the Cornerstone Lane was the highlight of the second
28:18
Cornhusker roundup of the alumni.
28:20
Even though the weather did not cooperate, LW Parwick of Lincoln
28:25
donated the cornerstone. A severe wind marred the
28:28
ceremonies by blowing down the frame, holding the service flag
28:32
back of the speakers, causing much commotion.
28:35
The flag fell on the key speaker by AN Arnold, an 1897 graduate
28:40
of the university's engineering college, on numerous occasions.
28:45
Holt stated that none of the students had been coerced into
28:48
pledging, but the peer pressure must have been tremendous.
28:52
A former fraternity president recalled, quote, the exuberance
28:56
of fraternity spirit when our fraternity, the same as the
28:59
others, was endeavoring to make the biggest possible
29:03
subscription to the stadium. End Quote.
29:05
He subscribed for several members and was left to pay the
29:09
entire pledge. During the 1922 campaign.
29:13
One student said that he could not afford $25.00, but he could
29:17
give 5. When he received his receipt, he
29:20
discovered that he was credited with a $25 pledge and still owed
29:25
$20. Alvin Kemper complained that she
29:29
felt intimidated into signing a pledge quote by a group of men
29:33
who gathered after one of the class periods.
29:35
End Quote. A friend of hers who did not
29:38
pledge was thrown into the YMCA swimming pool.
29:42
Some students might have felt hounded for subscriptions, but
29:46
in some cases the memorial association did not have an easy
29:49
time collecting the money pledged.
29:51
Holtz warned that student checks are very hazardous to hold.
29:56
They had to be cashed right away.
29:58
Students, like faculty and staff, presumed that if they
30:01
left the university they were not obliged to continue paying.
30:06
Some parents of university students refused to make good on
30:09
their children's obligations for such quote foolish things as
30:13
stadiums. End Quote.
30:15
One complained that quote you went after our boys and girls to
30:19
get them to sign up for that old thing in the 1st place.
30:22
You know better than to go to the parents, for if you had,
30:25
there would not be any stadium. End Quote.
30:29
A man in Newman Grove wrote that his son did not have the money
30:32
and the father refused to pay the debt.
30:36
Holtz and the alumni association had good reason to press hard
30:39
for payment. As he told the California alumni
30:42
group, the association quote had virtually mortgaged our souls in
30:47
order to keep faith with those who have already subscribed.
30:50
End Quote. Everything had been pledged to
30:53
the contract. Holtz explained to the father of
30:57
one delinquent student that the stadium drive had netted
31:00
$350,000 in subscriptions and only $100,000 in cash to start
31:07
building. The Nebraska Memorial
31:09
Association used the unpaid $350,000 and the mortgage of the
31:15
future stadium as security on a $300,000 loan since many
31:20
financial institutions were reluctant to lend on such
31:23
ephemeral collateral. George Holmes of the First Trust
31:27
Company of Lincoln and a member of the Memorial Association
31:30
worked out alone by persuading 6 associated trust companies to
31:34
come aboard. Holmes arranged A5 year bond
31:37
issue. The university's Athletic
31:39
Association bound itself to pay $20,000 a year, and the Board of
31:44
Regents pledged quote that they would secure additional funds if
31:48
necessary. End Quote At that time, some 750
31:52
students on campus were delinquent in paying their
31:55
pledges, and another payment on the bonds would have to be made.
31:59
In April of 1924, the total of unpaid subscriptions had reached
32:04
$30,000. Holtz told one of the
32:07
complainers. Quote, this is not an item to be
32:10
sneezed at. End Quote.
32:12
Holtz and the Memorial Association tracked down
32:14
procrastinating subscribers with a vengeance, sometimes years
32:18
after the stadium was already in use.
32:20
He said that the operation would be handled in a very business
32:24
like manner. And he meant it.
32:26
In 1928, five years after the Dr. began, the association sued
32:31
25 delinquent subscribers. The writer of an insufficient
32:36
fund, a check was told, quote, if you don't pay, we will turn
32:40
it over to our County Attorney for prosecution.
32:43
And, quote, Holtz probably got tired of harassing people for
32:47
money, and he admitted that getting the stadium built
32:50
sometimes seemed like a hopeless proposition.
32:53
Quote. Yet I am not willing to give up
32:55
the ghost. And I think that in time we will
32:58
collect a lot of this money that does not look at all promising.
33:02
Now, End Quote. The pledge of a Lincoln real
33:05
estate firm was pursued through the courts.
33:07
The Memorial Association sued Christian and Herman Company for
33:11
the $250 and one in Municipal Court.
33:15
Quote. But getting a judgement against
33:17
these parties did not seem to have any effect on them.
33:20
End Quote. The next step was to try to
33:23
impound Charles Herman's Cadillac coupe and George
33:27
Christian's Packard. Christian escaped by claiming
33:30
that the car belonged to his wife.
33:32
Next, the lawyers garnished Christian's bank account.
33:36
The businessman and his attorney tried to argue that his money
33:40
was exempt property, but apparently the Memorial
33:43
Association was finally able to collect the pledge.
33:47
Even the law firm that handled these matters for the Memorial
33:50
Association had qualms about, quote, various attorneys who
33:53
have not paid their pledges. We are dealing with these men
33:56
day in and day out and probably will for a number of years to
34:00
come, and to gain their enmity would simply not be using our
34:04
best judgement. End Quote.
34:06
Why not turn these bills over, quote, to some young attorney
34:09
who can sue these gentlemen without embarrassment?
34:11
End Quote. Some pledges proved impossible
34:15
to collect. The Geekus Brothers restaurant
34:18
went into bankruptcy before the company had completely paid its
34:21
subscription. Another Lincoln subscriber,
34:24
Katsutaro Ito, owner of the YMCA cafeteria, quote, is supposed to
34:28
have gone back to Japan. End Quote.
34:31
And it was impossible to trace him.
34:33
A few pledges were forgiven, but the circumstances were usually
34:37
extreme. Dean CB Engberg, for example,
34:40
forwarded a letter from the mother of one student with a
34:43
delinquent subscription with his request that it be cancelled.
34:47
Engberg knew the family. The father had recently died,
34:51
the mother and son were both working, and the father, quote,
34:54
by the way, had disinherited him in favor of the University of
34:58
Nebraska. End Quote.
35:00
Most requests for a cancellation of a subscription were denied
35:04
when the Enterprise planning Mill of Lincoln suffered a fire
35:07
and dropped its pledge, Holtz noted sarcastically Quote that
35:11
fire was as valuable to the Enterprise mill as the post war
35:16
inflation in Germany was to the German government.
35:19
I cannot quite see where in the Enterprise Planning mill is
35:22
justified in canceling their obligation.
35:25
They still exist as a corporation and we should
35:28
collect. End Quote.
35:30
After starting the drive in Nebraska, Holtz turned his
35:32
attention to the alumni who had moved elsewhere as he assigned
35:36
quotas to various alumni groups. Sioux City, IA, was to raise
35:40
$940, alumni in Alabama $30 and those in California $5700.
35:48
In February 1923, Holtz hoped a trip back East would drum up
35:52
enthusiasm and 12 to $15,000. During a meeting of the alumni
35:57
group in Detroit, the organizer planned to tune in a Nebraska
36:01
football game on radio. Quote.
36:03
Though we may have some difficulty because of local
36:06
interference. End Quote.
36:08
Hearing the game would help put the listeners in a mood to
36:11
donate. The Nebraska track team attended
36:14
a meet in Southern California with a double mission to win and
36:19
to talk to the California alumni.
36:21
Quote. These boys must feel the most
36:23
royal welcome. End Quote Holtz urged the
36:26
California Cornhuskers. Quote.
36:28
They will tell you of the most magnificent new stadium.
36:32
End Quote Harry Miner, the campaign organizer in
36:35
California, gave his drive a Hollywood touch by showing the
36:40
film of the 1922 Nebraska Notre Dame football game.
36:44
A Nebraska victory, by the way, to all the alumni groups in the
36:48
state and in Washington, Oregon and Utah.
36:52
He asked Holtz to send slides of campus buildings and quote
36:55
characters connected with the university, such as Avery, and
36:58
quote to evoke memories and open wallets.
37:02
By the fall of 1923, Holtz and the alumni association knew
37:06
another round of fundraising would be necessary.
37:09
He contacted all of the county chairman to see how a second
37:12
drive would fare in Tecumseh Up. The feeling was not good,
37:17
responded JB Douglas. Quote.
37:20
Right now money matters are more stringent than they have been
37:23
for some time. End Quote.
37:25
And public opinion there favored having Lincoln completed quote,
37:29
since outside trade brought to Lincoln would be doubled and
37:33
troubled the credit accruing to Lincoln businessmen only.
37:36
End Quote. Walter Raish of Central City
37:39
suggested November would be the best time when quote.
37:43
The most enthusiasm for anything of this kind can be aroused
37:47
during the active football season.
37:49
End Quote Homecoming and the dedication of the stadium would
37:53
be the high points, but after the season, quote the enthusiasm
37:57
immediately begins to subside and quote, The October 1923
38:02
fundraising campaign on campus coincided with the dedication of
38:06
the stadium and caught all of the incoming freshmen who were
38:09
told that they would get more use out of the stadium than any
38:13
of the upperclassmen who had already pledged.
38:16
On the evening of November 5th, pairs of Innocence and Mortar
38:20
boards, members of the upper class honoraries, visited each
38:24
fraternity, sorority, and dormitory to secure pledges from
38:28
the freshman. The next day, all the freshmen
38:31
were strongly encouraged to attend a rally in the Armory
38:34
where they would get another chance to pledge to check
38:38
attendance and catch any absentees.
38:40
The organizers may have asked each freshman to sign a card and
38:44
hand it in as he left. Subscribers got to wear green
38:48
ribbons with their graduation year on it around campus.
38:52
Junior and senior organizations planned to round U all the
38:55
delinquent freshman subscribers at the end of the week.
38:58
Freshman in the ROTC program could transfer their uniform
39:02
deposits to the stadium fund instead of reclaiming them.
39:05
Quote Your refund is payable May 23rd through the 28th.
39:09
You have not missed this ten spot for the last nine months.
39:13
Why not put it to good use and relieve yourself of an urgent
39:17
obligation? End Quote Holtz suggested having
39:20
a student canvasser posted where the uniforms were turned in.
39:23
A person with some salesmanship ability would be best.
39:27
Nebraska played its first game in the new stadium on October
39:31
13th, 1923 against the University of Oklahoma.
39:35
Even though the east and West grandstands were not quite
39:39
complete. Parsons Construction Company
39:41
officials notified the Nebraska Memorial Association that it,
39:45
and not the company, would be responsible for any injuries to
39:49
the spectators. The contractors also warned the
39:52
association to have his architects check the structure
39:56
quote, to determine any possible danger of falling timber form
40:00
work or debris and to determine what parts of the structure at
40:03
this time have developed the strength necessary to avoid
40:07
collapse. And quote, guards should be
40:10
posted on the ramps leading to the balconies to keep people
40:13
out. Fortunately, the game was played
40:16
without any mishaps. Memorial Stadium was dedicated
40:21
on October 20th at the Homecoming game with the
40:23
University of Kansas. Before the game began, a parade
40:28
of students and alumni gathered at 12th and P streets, wound
40:32
through downtown Lincoln to 16th St. then marched back to the
40:36
stadium. The financing and construction
40:39
of Memorial Stadium had not been without risk, but the Alumni
40:42
Association had kept its promise that the team would play there
40:47
in 1923. The stadium cost $482,938.82.
40:56
By eliminating some features, the Memorial Association have
40:59
been able to trim nearly $66,000 from the Parson Construction
41:04
Company bid of 548,849, bringing the total much closer to the
41:10
group's original goal of $450,000.
41:14
Memorial Stadium never included all of the features that the
41:18
first War Memorial plans called for, such as the museum.
41:22
Harold Holtz reported that the stadium would be finished quote
41:26
only so far as the money available allows, and quote the
41:30
Oval ends and the colonnades would not be started until they
41:34
could be paid for. With agriculture in the state
41:37
already depressed when the Great Depression began, the necessary
41:41
funds never materialized. The circular precast concrete
41:46
medallions of the official seals of the Missouri Valley
41:49
Conference schools were completed around the exterior
41:52
walls. The Alumni Association contacted
41:55
Gutsum Borglum about making bronze memorial tablets to flank
41:59
the east entrance, but they apparently were never finished
42:02
or installed. In August 1927, First Trust
42:06
turned the mortgages over to the Memorial Association, and Holtz
42:10
was able to announce in 1928 that all contracted debts had
42:16
been paid. Characteristically, he also
42:18
stated, quote, let no one gain the impression from the fact
42:22
that the stadium is paid for that all unpaid obligations will
42:26
be cancelled. End Quote.
42:29
The Memorial Association finally closed its books in 1940.
42:33
It was not until 1972, when in addition to the South grandstand
42:37
was constructed, that the Oval Stadium was complete.
42:41
The Nebraska Memorial Association, the Alumni
42:44
Association and their supporters had taken a serious financial
42:48
risk, but their efforts were rewarded.
42:51
They gave the university and its students a usable stadium in
42:55
1923 that, with numerous later editions and improvements,
42:59
continues to serve the university's nationally
43:02
recognized football program. Thank you for listening to the
43:06
Nebraska History Podcast. To learn more about Nebraska
43:10
History Magazine, to listen to more podcasts, or to support our
43:13
podcast by becoming a member of the Nebraska State Historical
43:16
Society, go to history.nebraska.gov/podcast.
43:20
And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and get notified
43:23
when we release new episodes on your favorite podcast platform.
43:27
Until next time, I'm Chris Goforth.