Football

Why Illinois Football has 200 Columns Around Their Stadium

In honor of memorial day, Armchair Illini wanted to recognize the history of Illinois football and the 200 columns

Published

2 months ago

May 27, 2024

Sep 2, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini take the field before a game against the Toledo Rockets at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Illinois Football and The 200 Columns

Illinois Memorial Stadium, as we know it, has stood in solidarity as the host of Illinois Football since 1923. The beautiful stadium was built on the backs of donations made by hundreds of thousands of students, alumni, and fans of the Fighting Illini. The University of Illinois built a beautiful 1.7 million dollar football stadium in honor of the 200 Illini who tragically lost their lives during World War 1. The renovation was officially dedicated on October 18th, 1924 as Illinois took down Michigan on homecoming. The game was most notable for Harold “Red” Grange, who scored 6 touchdowns and recorded the greatest single game in Illinois Football history.

Today, as you enter Memorial Stadium from the East or West, you will be greeted by the 200 limestone columns that have supported the stadium since its final establishment in 1923. All 200 fallen Illini WWI heroes remain forever engraved in the columns that gracefully define the beautiful venue. Certainly, it is a wonderful reminder to enjoy the freedoms that we so gratefully enjoy, which so many gave the ultimate sacrifice to ensure. Of course, such as enjoying a beautiful fall Saturday with friends and family, and total strangers enjoying Illinois Football.

Memorial Stadium’s 200 Fallen Hero’s

Truman O. Aarvig
Alvin J. Adams
Charles P. Anderson
Michael L. Angarola
Alan N. Ash
John W. Bailey
Harold J. Barnes
Lowell W. Bartlett
Bohuslav Bartos
Frank A. Benitz
John S. Bennehoff
Merrill M. Benson
Edward H. Berry
Arthur L. Beyerlein
Benjamin H. Bloebaum
Irwin J. Bluestein
Vinson R. Boardman
Henry H. Boger
Arthur L. Bonner
Marcus H. Branham
George R. Brannon
William E. Brotherton
Bayard Brown
Waldo R. Brown
Harold C. Buchanan
John E. Burroughs
Charles B. Busey
Charles E. Caldwell, Jr.
William J. Callahan
Jay I. Carpenter
Lee S. Cassell
Leslie G. Chandler
Minor J. Chapin
Harry L. Clayton
Paul M. Clendenen
Henry R. Colton
Linn P. Cookson
Charles E. Cooper
Willis H. Cork
Joseph C. Crismore
Bruce N. Culmer
Robert M Cutter
Homer W. Dahringer
John H. Dallenbach
Theodore F. Demeter
Townsend F. Dodd
James E. Durst
Vincent J. Dushek
William F. Earnest
Adrian C. Edwards
Arthur M. Evans
Emery C. Farver
Arthur W. Freer
Lloyd H. Ghislin
Ralph E. Gifford
Gladys Gilpatrick
Thomas Goodfellow
Algernon D. Gorman
Orlando M. Gochnaur
Isaac V. Goltra
Otto B. Gray
Edward F. Greene
Julius E. Gregory
Charles H. Gundlock

Charles L. Gustafson
George P. Gustafson
Melsor E. Gustafson
Chester G. Hadden
Frederick Hadra
William J. Hamilton
Frank L. Hammerstrand
John C. Hanley
Howard H. Hardy
Tillman H. Harpole
Arthur H. Harris
Everett L. Harshbarger
Gerhard F. Hartwig
Calvin W. Hesse
James B. Hickman
John A. Hirstein
Leonard C. Hoskins
Oscar L. Housel
Allen K. Hyde
Lester H. Ihrig
Ralph Imes
Grant R. Ireland
Robert P. Irvine
Lenton W. James
Frank A. Jarrett
Hubert Jessen
Joseph H. Johnston
Archibald F. Keehner
Curtis E. Kelso
Clinton D. Kendall
James H. Kendall
Elmore A. Kirkland
Robert D. Kirkland
Bayard T. Klotzsche
Lynn E. Knorr
John C. Kromer
Edgar A. Lawrence
Theodore E. Layden
John C. Lee
Raymond G. Leggett
Samuel B. Leiser
Everett R. Leisure
Lester R. Lewis
Wilfred Lewis
Leslie A. Liggett
John R. Lindsey
Robert L. Long
LeCount R. Lovellette
Bernard M. Lyons
Clare P. McCaskey
Isaac F. McCollister
Leo G. McCormack
Joel. F. McDavid
John McDonough
William H. Mandeville
Lewis V. Manspeaker
Leo J. Mattingly
Dean E. Memmen
Alexander V. Mercer
Russell Micenheimer
Leo C. Miller
Wayne K. Moore
Alfred T. Morison
Guy E. Morse

Charles S. Narkinsky
Ralph M. Noble
Tomas Olazagasti
Thomas J. Palmer
Raymond W. Parker
Miles M. Parmely
Lloyd M. Parr
Homer C. Parrish
Walter C. Paton
Clyde F. Pendleton
Herbert C. Petersen
William C. Peterson
Louis I. Phillis
Eric F. Pihlgard
Horatio N. Powell
Hugh M. Price
Benjamin J. Prince
George H. Raab
James K. Read
Lawrence S. Riddle
John W. Ruckman
Harold C. Schreiner
Harold S. Seibert
William J. Sense
Philip F. Shaffner
A.Vernon Sheetz
Otis E. Simpson
Clarence W. Smith
Philip O. Smith
William E. Smoot
Reginald G. Squibb
Otto Staeheli
Charles L. Starkel
Harry H. Strauch
Harold H. Sutherland
Dana E. Swift
Alexander S. Tarnoski
John L. Teare
Ralph W. Tippet
Norman J. Tweedie
Charles A. Wagner, Jr.
Elliot P. Walker
Edward Wallace
Burt H. Ward
Manierre B. Ware
William E. Wheeler, Jr.
George E. Wilcox
Lloyd G. Williams
Frederic H. Winslow
Warren C. Woodward
Henry Young
Ashford F. Corbin
Harry M. Gray
Kent D. Hagler
Alfred E. James
Louis R. Kratze
Unknown Illini Dead
Students’ Army and Navy Training Corps Dead
Curtis G. Redden, University of Michigan
Laurens C. Shull, University of Chicago

WWII Honors

As you enter Memorial Stadium for an Illinois Football game, you will also notice the names of 984 Illini students and alumni who also lost their lives for our nation. Their names were brought to honor at the stadium in 2002 in memorial of those who lost their lives during WWII, and conflicts dating back to 1918. Their names are etched into 1 of the 4 tablets that reside alongside the entrances at the East and West ends of the stadium.

Photo Credit: Fightingillini.com

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Kirkland is a go-to source for Illinois athletics news. He is the lead Football analyst at Armchair Illini and has been featured in top media publications like Bleacher Report, Yard Barker, Autograph, Newsbreak, CBS Sports and more.