Over the years, Memorial Hall has served as a library, post office and book store. It even housed the University’s original Scrounge coffee shop. Today, the building serves the Department of English and the University Writing Center, meaning nearly every student moves through its venerable halls at some point.

Happy 100th, Memorial

Article by Diane Stopyra Photos by Evan Krape and Kathy F. Atkinson and courtesy of University Archives May 25, 2025

UD’s iconic building celebrates its centennial

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the spring 2025 issue of UD Magazine, which celebrates iconic campus spaces.

It has not been the center of campus for many years—at least not geographically. But symbolically, 100-year-old Memorial Hall remains the heart of UD, an architectural focal point that dewy-eyed Blue Hens conjure when they picture their alma mater. Stately and dignified, with a gabled roof and classic white columns, the storied building evokes scholarship and solemnity. Even seasoned members of faculty acknowledge a sense of gravitas when approaching Memorial Hall, located in the middle of the University Green.

“Walking up the steps, I feel like a professor,” says Philip Gable of the psychology department. “When I teach classes here, I notice a difference in the presence of my students, too—they sit just a little bit straighter.”

Memorial Hall opened its doors on May 23, 1925, following a fundraising campaign that raised $300,000 (or $5.5 million in today’s dollars) for the building.

Yet, for all its august energy, Memorial Hall’s story is one of humble beginnings. In the early 1920s, UD desperately needed a library—the student body was 600 undergraduates strong and quickly growing—but money was tight. So Rodney H. Sharp, then a University trustee, concocted a plan: The state was searching for a memorial to Delaware servicemen who’d been killed during World War I, and a new library could serve that purpose.

Thus began an unprecedented, state-wide fundraising campaign. Throughout the fall of 1922, donations poured in from Delaware’s biggest and most affluent names (read: the DuPonts), but also from schoolchildren who canvassed their neighborhoods for spare change. The campaign generated $300,000 (or $5.5 million in today’s money). And, in short order, shovel-wielding students and members of the faculty were excavating a foundation.

“Undergraduates happily slopped around in the dirt,” says University archivist Lisa Gensel. “The effort was very of its time period: Boys dug the basement, while girls provided sandwiches and moral support.”

On May 23, 1925, a dedication ceremony involving politicians, members of the campus community, and representatives from the U.S. Army took place, and participants marched a Book of the Dead 270 names strong into Memorial Hall’s main lobby. (In recent years, as part of their English curriculum, Blue Hens have researched the life histories behind these names. And, every day at 8 a.m., a member of UD ROTC ceremoniously turns a page, each of which bears a single name of one of the fallen.)

Building renderings by architects Day and Klauder.

Over the years, Memorial Hall has served many purposes. As a library, the building survived a devastating, 1937 flood that left a small group of intrepid staffers lugging 10,000 books to higher ground while dodging toads in the stacks. The building has also housed the University’s original Scrounge coffee shop, a post office and book store. Today, it’s home to the Department of English and the University Writing Center, meaning nearly every student moves through the venerable halls of Memorial at some point during their UD career.

While the building’s interior has undergone many renovations, the structure has provided a steadfast backdrop to tens of thousands of educational journeys (and also a reliable soundtrack—the carillon that plays the University’s alma mater is housed within Memorial Hall). In the past, Commencement events were held on The Green in front of the building. Now, each incoming class is welcomed to UD with a beloved tradition, an evening Twilight Ceremony that happens in the literal and figurative shadow of the landmark.

Whether students know its full history or not, Memorial Hall remains a source of pride, nostalgia and—yes—improved posture for generations of Blue Hens.