The following resource collection is by Lindsey Bixler, Alexandra Hodson, Evan McCulloch, Arden Rousseaux, and Jackson Selvala, undergraduate students of the University of Michigan.

Introduction

The University of Michigan’s Alumni Memorial Hall, now most recognized by the campus community as the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), stands to the South of Angell Hall, along State Street on Ann Arbor’s Central Campus. Completed in May of 1910 by the Detroit-based architecture firm Donaldson & Meier, Alumni Memorial Hall was built to honor students and Alumni of the University that had served in the Mexican War, American Civil War, and Spanish-American War. Fittingly, back in 1908, the laying of the cornerstone – a ceremony which marks the beginning of construction and guides the subsequent orientation of the building to come – was undertaken by the University’s Judge Claudius B. Grant, an Army veteran of the American Civil War and esteemed member of judiciary faculty.

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Lyndon, John, "Laying the Cornerstone of Alumni Memorial Hall," June 1908. Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/University_of_Michigan_Museum_of_Art#Media/File:

Alumni_Memorial_Hall_cornerstone_laying.jpg

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Lydon, John, "Alumni Memorial Hall First Floor Atrium", 1913. Leaders and Best Impact, UMMA Revisited. https://leadersandbestimpact.umich.edu/story/umma-revisited/

Though created as a memorial building, Alumni Memorial Hall has served a multi-purpose function since its opening, with the 1910 exhibition of Charles L. Freer’s “Oriental and American Art” collection. For its time, this exhibition was considered groundbreaking with its hybrid display of Western and Eastern art traditions; a historical compendium of this project is catalogued in Exhibition of Oriental and American Art by T.W. Koch and the Ann Arbor Art Association. In addition to art exhibitions, Alumni Memorial Hall has also been a site for community organizations since its 1910 open to the public, housing the Alumni Association, the Alumni Catalog Office, and the University Club, though several of these organizations would later move to other campus buildings like the Union.

Along with the multiple functions of Alumni Memorial Hall, this building is also an important representation of the spirit of activism in the Ann Arbor campus community. Students and Alumni had advocated since 1864 to create a memorial building of this capacity, and their petitioning efforts are vital and important, as they emphasize the vibrancy and determination of University of Michigan students. Even though there is a level of historical amnesia with regards to the building’s function and purpose as a memorial, it continues to serve the community as a meeting place, cultural center, and space of great artistic and educational value.