Memorial Field and War Memorial | |||||||||
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Narrative: The War Memorial and Memorial Field are in honor of Amherst College alumni who died in World Wars I and II. Some 3,400 alumni contributed $100,000 of the total $120,000 cost. Then President Stanley King proposed the site. The architect of the War Memorial was James Kellum Smith (class of 1915), who was a member of the well-known McKim, Mead & White architectural firm from 1920 to 1961 and the architect for Amherst College from 1930 to 1960. The College's landscape architect, Arthur A. Shurcliff of Boston, worked with Smith on this and several other campus projects. At the dedication ceremony on June 16, 1946, John J. McCloy (class of 1916), who had served as U. S. Assistant Secretary of War (1941-1945) and would soon become president of the World Bank (1947-1949) and U. S. High Commissioner for Germany (1949-1952), gave a very moving and memorable address. McCloy was a devoted long-time trustee of the College (1947-1989) whose voluminous papers now reside in the College Archives and Special Collections. Memorial Field originally contained a baseball diamond, areas for football and soccer practice, and in winter, a ski slope. Varsity baseball moved here in 1949, many tennis courts have been added, and various other activities take place here. The War Memorial is situated on a path between the main campus and the playing field/athletic complex. One walks through the War Memorial to get from one to the other. It has always been kept in excellent condition. References: King, Stanley. The Consecrated Eminence: the Story of the Campus and Buildings of Amherst College. Amherst, MA: Amherst College, 1951. | ||||||||
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Last update: November 2006