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Isley Brothers perform, 1962 |
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Baby Day,1957 |
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Memorial Union to celebrate 50th anniversary
It once housed a bowling alley, and students gathered there to meet and hear the late Sammy Davis Jr. perform. Called the “hearthstone” of the campus, the Memorial Union, over the past 50 years, has been a place to eat, to enjoy a movie like “On the Waterfront,” take in a concert by the Beaver Brown Band, work at the student newspaper or serve the University on the Student Senate.
Dedicated Nov. 13, 1954, the union has been a campus hub for students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Just like the week of Nov. 13 through Nov. 20, 1954, there will be a week of activities this year from Nov. 15 through the 19th. Each day that week will focus on a specific decade—Nov. 15, the 1950s; Nov. 16, the 1960s; Nov. 17, the 1970s; Nov. 18, the 1980s and Nov. 19, the 1990s and beyond.
On Thursday, Nov. 18, there will a performance in the Union Ballroom by Charlie Hall’s Ocean State Follies at 7:30 p.m.
Before 1954, the union was housed in Quonset Huts, but in The Coffee Times, a newspaper published by the Memorial Union, former Presidents Raymond G. Bressler and Carl Woodward called for a much needed social center and student union building.
With additions to the original building completed in 1964 and 1993, the union has become that much needed center.
Bruce Hamilton, director of the union, said the building will be rededicated on Thursday, Nov. 18 at noon, with President Robert L. Carothers scheduled to participate in the festivities. “We are going to try to get in touch with alumni, former directors, and students who were heavily involved in the union. We’re planning a Sock Hop, and Music Professor Joe Parillo and his students will be performing music each day from the corresponding decade.”
Also, the Memorial Union Gallery will be transformed into a historical museum of the decades complete with yearbooks, memorabilia and photos.
By Dave Lavallee
