Memorial Hall and It's History

I found an article online about the history of Memorial Hall at explorehistory.ky.gov. This article was written by Becky Riddle.

The article starts out explaining what the hall is and why it is called Memorial Hall. It was built in 1929 and was given the name Memorial Hall because it is a memorial for all Kentuckians that died during World War 1.  The building was given to the University of Kentucky by the class of 2002.  The building has a large fresco painting in the entrance that was created by Ann Rice O’Hanlon in 1934. The fresco was painted for a public works art project showing the different historical events in Kentucky’s past. The article then goes into detail about the life of Ann Rice O’Hanlon. Ann was born in Ashland, Kentucky and attended the University of Kentucky where she majored in Art. After Ann finished her time in Lexington she moved to Georgetown and taught for one year. She moved to San Francisco, California where she continued her art education after her one year at Georgetown. The UK Senior Challenge Historical Marker Project was created in 1994 and allows the graduating class to leave a memorial to the university.

The article made me wonder why some buildings are named what they are. Do buildings with names like “Memorial” all deal with a certain war, or are they named after something else? How many buildings in the USA have the word “Memorial” in their name? This article has helped me realize that most buildings have a story behind them which really interests me.


Link to Article