In every major conflict since and including the Civil War, Lawrentians have heeded the call of duty and served their country with honor and distinction.

In a quiet alcove overlooking the Fox River in Memorial Hall are several plaques honoring those Lawrentians who sacrificed their lives in our nation's wars. The union itself, which opened in March 1952, was conceived as a memorial to the fallen Lawrentians of World War II and those of other wars.

Marguerite Schumann in Creation of a Campus (Lawrence College Press, 1957) describes the alcove in the following way.

On the walls, in plain golden columns are 71 names. The longest column is dated 1941-45.

Over them all is a fragment of a poem by British poet Stephen Spender. It reads:

"The names of those who in their lives fought for life,
Who wore at their hearts the fire's center.
Born of the sun, they traveled a short while toward the sun
And left the vivid air signed with their honor.”

Over the years, other memorials have been added to the alcove. The columns themselves, as referred to in Schumann's description, have since been replaced with two large wooden plaques, one honoring those who lost their lives in the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War I, and the other covering World War II and Korea.

When the lobby of the Lawrence Memorial Chapel underwent renovation in 1999, a bronze plaque honoring those who died in World War I, the period in which the Chapel was originally built, was moved to Memorial Hall alcove.

A plaque honoring the veterans of the Vietnam War, crafted by then associate professor of art Todd McGrain and made possible through the leadership of the Lawrence Class of 1964, was dedicated during Reunion Weekend in June 1997.

To view the plaques, click on the following.