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That rugged old warrior, Grant Memorial Hall (campus, 12th and S) now
resounds to commands no more stirring than a set-up singsong to which
co-eds stretch muscles and limber joints in accordance with university
physical education requirements. It was built, however, for sterner
purposes. Once the shuffle and click of guns could be heard within its
soldierly exterior as Lt. John Pershing sang out brisk orders to his
cadets. The hall was erected in honor of Nebraska’s Civil war veterans
in 1887, when those veterans were comparatively young men. Pershing was
commandant from 1891 to 1895. The military department is now housed in
Nebraska hall, a block to the north.
During the university’s middle years convocations were held in Grant
Memorial. The pipe organ in the west half of the second story came from
the Mississippi exposition held in Omaha in 1898. It was a gift from
alumni who purchased it for $2,500. For years Carrie Belle Raymond, for
whom one of the girls’ residence halls is named, played the organ for
convocation. Thousands of graduates recall her always smiling face as
she sat high above them, fingers hovering over the organ keys.
In Grant Memorial also are housed the U. of N. radio studio and the
department of architecture.