May 14, 1914 Birmingham News

Boulder Unveiled As night fell on the university campus, 

The memorial boulder erected by the Alabama division of the United Daughters of Confederacy, in commemoration of the heroic service of the university to the Confederacy, was unveiled with simple ceremonies. The cords which loosed the crimson and white bunting in which the huge monolith was draped were pulled by Miss Cherokee VandeGraaff, granddaughter of Colonel Hargrove, C. S. A., and Miss Hortense Rodes, granddaughter in of the Robert Confederate Emmet Rodes. major general 

After the inscription on the bronze tablet had been read by Miss VandeGraaff, Mrs.Bashinsky presented the memorial to the university. She said in part: "It is too often the tragedy of human love that its full expression comes too late to bring comfort and reward to hearts that have given their richest treasure of devotion. Too late, for the story has been told. Not so with us, for this recognition has not been deferred until all whose praise it sings are beyond the sound of its music. We have with us many of these beloved Confederate sons whose lives and sacrifice are commemorated in this memorial when we wreath it with blossoms bright and bring flowers to the living, thank God. as well as to the graves of the dead." Mrs. Bashinsky then recited the record of university students in the war. and turning to the veterans standing near, she said, "Of all that host who went out in the '60s, we have now a short, thin line, gray, not in uniform, as of yore, but bending beneath the weight of years. You are the living link between these students of today and those days of the south's great struggle. You present to us not the picture, but the reality of those heroes demonstrated the truest."

One Flag and One Country

After presenting the boulder to the university, she said: "It is the purpose of our organization to teach posterity that we have one country, one flag, one people, but that once there was another flag forever, and under its folds marched armies clad in gray, who added new honor to American manhood and new lustre to American history. 

"May this memorial be an inspiration to the young men of this, and coming generations, to bring to the service of their state and country a higher measure of responsibility and deeper, truer conceptions of duty." 

Denny Accepts Boulder 

In accepting the boulder President Denny said: "It is indeed a high distinction to accept. on behalf of the University of Alabama, this handsome stone placed here by the Alabama division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in order to commemorate the deeds of Alabama boys, students of this institution, whose faith courage 'on war's red touchstone rang true metal.' Standing on this spot around which gather the best traditions of a great commonwealth, you will permit me to say that whatever of sacred meaning this day and this hour may have for others, it has for the University of Alabama and for those who love it an inexpressibly beautiful and profound significance. 

"I do not envy the man his composure who can stand unmoved in the presence of the memories that this simple ceremony is calculated to evoke.

'He that loseth his life shall find it,' is an expression of the philosophy that inspired the young men whose heroism we celebrate today. That philosophy, God willing. we shall proclaim as the first article of the creed that shall henceforth govern the life of the University of Alabama. Patriotic men everywhere rejoice that the great tragedy of the war between the states has passed into history; that the storm of passion has long since given way to the calm of peace. The south understands that the war has ended.

"It has no desire to revive worn out issues. It is loyal to the national flag. Yet it is true in the largest and finest sense that, in honoring the national flag, we shall never agree to forget that other flag under which great and brave and heroic deeds were wrought.

 "The University of Alabama, with its spirit unfretted by bitter memories of the cruel hand that smote it in that fierce struggle through which God remolded and cast anew the nation, once more proclaims at this hour her pride and faith in the character of the boys who went out from this campus nearly a half century ago and on scores of battlefields offered their lives as a willing sacrifice for the honor of their country.

 "Out of all proportion to the numerical strength of the student body, this institution was represented, in that great drama. Here is the record of service for which the distinguished historian of this occasion stands sponsor. 'The University of Alabama gave to the Confederacy seven general officers, 25 colonels, 14 lieutenant-colonels, 21 majors, 125 captains, 273 staff and other commissioned officers, 66 non-commissioned officers, and 284 private soldiers.

 "No man who has been permitted to join in this impressive function will fail to feel a sense of gratitude in his heart that he has lived to celebrate this day. Speaking as the representative of university men, living and dead, I express to all who have contributed to the erection of this memorial stone our appreciation and our gratitude.

"May it stand here through the coming years, not merely as an expression of our loyalty to the memory of the heroic dead, but also as a silent challenge to living men and women who will gather on this campus to seek the inspiration and the ideals that are to fashion in such degree the destiny of our common country."

 The exercises were brought to a close with the placing of a memorial wreath on the boulder by Miss Sarah Marr McCormick, and the benediction by the Rev. Joseph John.