Flashback Friday makes a flyover of the NC State campus this week. The year is 1919, and we’ve just discovered something right out of ‘The Twilight Zone’ — a campus landmark, the Memorial Bell Tower, contrary to what the card depicts, has not yet been built!

No message this week! 

This white border, tinted halftone postcard shows NC State’s famous Bell Tower in all its gleaming glory right there on the grassy knoll between Holladay and Pullen Halls at the main entrance to campus.

The photo itself was taken in 1919, yet, the tower’s cornerstone wasn’t laid until 1921. Incremental layers of stone brought its height to just 30 feet by the late 1920s. The full height of the 115-foot tower was not reached until 1937, and it was not finished and dedicated until after World War II. Nonetheless, this 1920s-era postcard shows a completed monument.

I can almost hear the bells ringing.

A Labor of Love: Building a ‘Legend in Stone’

Following the end of The Great War, or as we know it today, World War I, an initiative began among NC State alumni in 1919  to construct a monument to those student soldiers who died in the war. The memorial committee hired Architect William Henry Deacy to design the tower in 1920.

His early Art Deco styled tower featured a 115-foot shaft of Mt. Airy granite standing upon a stone-sheathed concrete base, surrounded by four bronze lanterns. A shrine room memorializing the 33 NC State dead was to be constructed within. Finally, the tower was to be surmounted by an enormous four-faced clock  supporting a colossal cupola housing a 54-bell carillon.

State Archives of North Carolina photo

This rendering depicts the finished Memorial Bell Tower as envisioned by its architect, William Henry Deacy.

In 1921 a dedication ceremony and cornerstone laying of the memorial tower was held incorporating traditional Masonic rites.

Photo credit: Edward Funkhouser

Above and below: the two faces of the tower’s enormous granite cornerstone. 

Photo credit: Edward Funkhouser

The first 10-foot sections of granite were finished in 1924 and 1925. After 1926 the monument had reached the 30 foot mark. However, the Great Depression caused fund-raising efforts to lag, and construction did not resume for several years.

Courtesy NCSU Libraries Special Collections Research Center

The photo above shows the status of the Bell Tower in 1925. Below is how it appeared in the late 1920s, shortly before construction stopped altogether.

State Archives of North Carolina photo

Construction resumed in the 1930s with the aid of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA}, and the tower finally reached its full height of 115 feet in 1937.

The student honor societies and the Classes of 1938 and 1939 funded the clock and bronze lamp standards. However, there was no money available for the shrine room or installation of the 54-bell carillon.

This is the dizzying view from the shrine room to the empty bell chamber at the top of the tower.

Another War Intervenes

Completing the finishing details — the shrine room and carillon — was delayed during World War II. After the war, with financial support from students, alumni, individual donors and foundations, the shrine room and memorial plaque were finally completed. However, as there was no money to purchase and install real bronze bells, an electronic chime carillon was substituted.

At last, on November 11, 1949, 30 years after its inception, NC State’s Memorial Bell Tower was formally dedicated .

The polished brass memorial plaque is the focal point of the tower’s shrine room.

Officially, 33 NC State alumni died in World War I, but the plaque bears 34 names. I wonder how many GNR readers know about the mystery of alum G.L. Jeffers?

I Hear Bells

The 1949 electronic carillon was upgraded in 1986, but still no real bells. In 2008, NC State graduate student Matthew Robbins embarked upon a campaign to bring the bells to the Bell Tower.

The largest bell, a 2,000 pounder, was gifted to the Bell Tower by the Class of 2010. By 2012 two additional bells were funded by private donors. The three bells are a part of the 5-bell set required to ring the Westminster Chime.

These first three are on display at the D.H. Library, awaiting donation of the next two bells, upon which time the 5-bell set will be installed in the bell chamber.

Matthew Robbins poses by the one-ton bell that will one day sound the hour in the NC State Memorial Bell Tower.

Visit the ‘Finish the Bell Tower’ website to learn more about the bell project and how you can contribute.

Photo credit: NC State University

Our Flashback Friday ‘white border’ postcard this week was published by long time Raleigh stationer and office outfitter James E. Thiem. It was printed by the Curt Teich Co. of Chicago under the trade name ‘C.T. American Art Colored.’

Curt Teich Co.   1898-1974 Chicago, IL

A major publisher and printer. Their U.S. factories turned out more cards in quantity than any other printer. They published a wide range of national view-cards of America and Canada. By the 1920s they were producing so many postcards with borders that they became recognized as a type dubbed White Border Cards. Many consider them one of the finest producers of White Border Cards. The Linen Type postcard came about through their innovations as they pioneered the use of offset lithography. They were purchased by Regensteiner Publishers in 1974 which continued to print cards at the Chicago plant until 1978.

“Flashback Friday” is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week end treat!