History: Alumni Hall magnolia

Alumni Hall and magnolia 2-625 on the right, 1920s. Image from William and Stalla Vaughn Papers scrapbook, Box 25 SC.MSS.0477.Box25.002

Alumni Hall and magnolia 2-625 in 2020. Photo by Taylor Hopkins under a CC BY license.

Alumni hall first opened in 1925 and was built to honor the brave members of the Vanderbilt community who served and died during World War I. On the second floor of Alumni Hall in the Memorial room the names of 44 of these Vanderbilt heroes who died fighting in WWI are carved above the fireplaces at both ends of the room. The magnolia in this photo from Stella Vaughn’s scrapbook was likely taken not long after Alumni Hall first opened its doors to students. As it was a fully grown tree when this photo was taken in 1925, it’s likely this magnolia was one of the original trees of Vanderbilt and may have even been planted by Bishop McTyeire himself.

Return to the historical tree tour page for magnolia 2-481.