Wesleyan University

South College Building, Wesleyan University

Links to Carillon Inventories
GCNA	Tower Bells	Bok Tower Gardens

Wesleyan College built a belfry on the South College building in 1856, which is probably when a bell was installed to summon students to chapel services. A 2017 article states that "for an unknown reason, the single South College bell was removed in the 1860s." In 1916, West Virginia Congressman William P. Hubbard and other members of the class of 1863 offered to donate an 11-bell chime cast by Mears and Stainbank at Whitechapel, England. They confessed in 1918 that they had "purloined the bells from the tower of South College" some fifty-five years earlier. All seven surviving members of the repentant class contributed to the effort .

The chime was installed in a new domed cupola on the South College building and first played on Christmas Eve 1918. The bells were dedicated on February 22, 1919, at which five of the seven surviving members of the class attended.

College president Victor P. Butterfield donated $16,500 to repair the existing bells and purchase five more bells, which were installed in late 1966 along with a new clavier built by James Akright .

A fundraising campaign was begun in 2001 to raise money for at least seven additional bells to form a carillon, and donations were sufficient to order eight new Petit & Fritsen bells that were installed in 2005.

The Wesleyan University Carillon was dedicated on November 5, 2005 at 4:30pm as part of Homecoming/Family Weekend.

References
1917 "$10,000 Chimes Given Wesleyan University," The Journal, February 26, 1917, Page 5.
The chimes will consist of eleven bells and are being cast by Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel, England, bells makers since 1570.

1918 "New Wesleyan Chimes Ring Christmas Eve," Hartford Courant, December 8, 1918, Page 17.
The new chimes at Wesleyan University. the gift of the members of the class of 1863, will be rung for the first time on Christmas eve. The chimes have been placed in the South Tower.
According to the confession of members of the class, the students purloined the bells from the tower of South College fifty-five years ago. Recently they grew repentant and it was arranged that a fine set of chimes should be bought to "square the deal."

1919 "Wesleyan Ready for Celebration," The Journal, February 17, 1919, Page 9.
At noon the new chimes are to be dedicated. William P. Hubbard will probably make the presentation for the class of '63.

1932 Wesleyan's First Century: With an Account of the Centennial Celebration, by Carl Fowler Price
Page 187: A chime of bells for the South College tower cast in London England, was dedicated on February 22, 1919, the gift of the class of 1863.

1966 "The Bells of Wesleyan University Will Ring Again," The New York Times, November 25, 1966, Page 40.

1967 "Wesleyan University," Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, 18:38 (1967)
An anonymous gift of $16, 500 has ma.de possible the complete renovation and addition of five bells to the existing chime of 11 bells at Wesleyan University. The new bells were cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry of London -- the same firm that cast the Liberty Bell. James Akright, organ builder from Berea, Kentucky, who has had much experience with carillon maintenance and installation, was in charge of the renovation and re- installation, and provided the new transmission system and rosewood keyboard. The 11 bells in the tower of South College have been silent for several years because of their antiquated arrangement and damage caused by vandals. They were cast in 1916 and installed two years later in the tower.

2015 Wesleyan University, 1910–1970: Academic Ambition and Middle-Class America. by David B. Potts
Page 24-25: A moment for reflection on what the trustees had accomplished in developing the campus occurred in early 1919. Led by William P. Hubbard, the seven surviving members of the Class of 1863 had pledged funds in 1916 for campus chimes. Because Memorial Chapel’s steeple was too small for this set of eleven bells, Wesleyan asked [Henry] Bacon to design for South College a new domed cupola of sufficient size and strength to accommodate the chimes. This replacement for the octagonal belfry placed in 1856 on the college’s oldest building would be Bacon’s last completed project for the campus. Delayed by war, the bells arrived in mid-October 1918. Each was inscribed with a motto, one acknowledging the donor class and the others expressing Wesleyan’s educational aspirations. Five of the seven survivors from ’63 gathered on Washingtons Birthday in 1919 dedication. As the bells rang out across campus at the close of this ceremony, there was a special opportunity for Olin to hear in their reverberations evidence of his “unremitting [efforts] in the development of the physical resources of the University.”
Page 481: Prior to Memorial Chapel (1871), there was a bell on the tower of South College used for summoning students to chapel services in the basement of that building and rung by students on special occasions. See George M. Dutcher, “Wesleyan University: The First Years” (typescript), ca. 1940s, 1155-56.

2017 "For Whom the Bells Toll: A History of the South College Carillon," The Wesleyan Argus, Ocober 30, 2017.
The original South College bells were offered as a donation in 1916 from West Virginia Congressman William P. Hubbard, Class of 1863, on behalf of himself and the rest of his graduating class. For an unknown reason, the single South College bell was removed in the 1860s, and the tower remained without a bell for over 50 years. Wesleyan’s third president, Stephen H. Olin, was delighted to receive the gift.

Wesleyan University Bells