Embedded Files
The Burton Memorial Tower. Photo courtesy uncommoncampus.edu
Burton's Carillon Rings
Burton's Carillon Rings
by Erin Klein
A visitor to The University of Michigan might wonder where the bell sounds ring from as they roam campus anytime between noon and 12:45 pm on a given weekday (Vena). This timeless sound is emanating from the Burton Memorial Tower located on Central Campus on the Ingalls Mall. After 85+ years, this 212-foot structure has become a landmark for University of Michigan students.
Basically a traditional office and classroom high rise topped with a clock bell tower, it houses the Charles Baird Carillion, which chimes the tune of the Westminster Quarters every quarter hour from 9:15 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays when school is in session. (Listen to it here!)
While U of M students enjoy and embrace the Burton's carillon rings, many students lack historical knowledge of this well-known building. Completed in 1936 almost 20 years after it was first proposed in a commencement address by President Marion Burton, the tower was designed by German immigrant, Albert Kahn, who ran one of the most, “outstanding and successful architecture and engineering firms in the United States” (“The Successful Immigrant”). The tower's construction planning and construction delays were a result of a long-term fundraising effort that failed short because of the depression. However, in 1935, the University was generously given the carillon of fifty-three bells by a University graduate of 1895 and former athletic director, Charles Baird, which is still the third heaviest in the world (“Burton Tower”). With Kahn’s expertise, the directors of the Alumni Association were able to fulfill their promise to President Burton, honoring the 236 University of Michigan men that lost their lives in World War I (“Burton Memorial Tower”). On December 4, 1936, the Burton Memorial Tower was posthumously dedicated to Marion Leroy Burton’s memory (“Burton Memorial Tower”).
President Marion Leroy Burton. Photo courtesy heritage.umich.edu
President Burton was a dynamic educator who was known for his “gift of public speaking and personal charm, his organizational skills, and his ability to raise money, whether from legislators or alumni” (Clarke). He was known as “Burton the Builder,” as he launched a major expansion program and not only developed the University of Michigan’s presence but its level of education and prestige.
The name Burton "originally derived from a place name meaning "fortified town" in Old English," according to Behindthename.com.
As the meaning of Marion means beloved (deriving from the name Mary, which is "most likely originally an Egyptian name, perhaps derived in part from mry" ("Marion/Maria/Mary")), it is only right for the Burton Memorial Tower to be named after an impactful and admirable figure to the U of M community.
The university includes the story of the tower on campus tours. I still recall my prospective student tour where the tour guide also told us it plays a role in campus curse legend. “The only way to reverse the curse of stepping on the Block M in the diag [is] to run from the ‘M’ to the Pumas while the clock is striking midnight, [yet] since the original IBM clock system was replaced in the 1980s with a computer, the clock no longer strikes at all at midnight,” they say (“Uncommon Campus: Burton Memorial Tower and Carillon”). Learning the history behind the Burton Memorial Tower and its significance has changed my perspective as I walk by it daily to my academic classes.
Works Cited
"Burton." Behindthename.com. https://www.behindthename.com/name/burton
"Burton Memorial Tower." University of Michigan History.
http://umhistory.dc.umich.edu/mort/central/north%20of%20north%20u/Burton%20Tower/index.html
“Burton Tower.” A Historical Tour of the University of Michigan Campus, Bentley Historical
Library: University of Michigan, https://bentley.umich.edu/legacy-support/campus_tour/burtontower.php.
Clarke, Kim. “Death of a President.” University of Michigan Heritage Project,
https://heritage.umich.edu/stories/death-of-a-president/.
"Marion/Maria/Mary." Behindthename.com. https://www.behindthename.com/name/mary
“The Successful Immigrant.” Albert Kahn, Life of Albert Kahn – Albert Kahn Legacy
Foundation, 5 Oct. 2022, https://albertkahnlegacy.org/life-of-albert-kahn/.
“Uncommon Campus: Burton Memorial Tower and Carillon.” U, 7 Feb. 2013,
https://socialmedia.umich.edu/blog/uncommon-campus-burton-memorial-tower-and-carillon/.
Vena, Alexandra. “What It's like to Play the Bells in the Umich Burton Memorial Tower.” The
Michigan Daily, 13 Oct. 2022, https://www.michigandaily.com/campus-life/bringing-people-together-what-its-like-to-play-the-carillon-in-the-burton-memorial-tower/.
Page updated
Report abuse