When a new building for The Stout Manual Training School was built in 1897, this bell was installed in the clock tower to sound the hours of the day. Large and expensive, this bell was truly an investment in, and a symbol of, the promising future of the school. Founded in 1891, the fledgling institution was to become the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
In 1914, the bell's striking mechanism became inoperative and was not repaired. For years students climbed the stairs of the tower and struck the bell with hammers to celebrate football victories and other events. As a result of this treatment, the bell cracked and no longer rang. The bell remained in the tower and was replaced by an electric carillon to mark time for the campus and the community. In 1997, the bell was removed and the carillon was replaced with five bronze bells - the result of several generous donations to the Stout University Foundation, Inc.
In 1999, a faculty member and several students designed this monument to display this historic bell. The bell stands here in its final home, a tribute to the impressive history of this institution, but still a symbol of its promising future.
Monument design team:
Faculty member: Benjamin Pratt
Students: David Larson, David Loewe, Deborah Podsedly
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