Building History: The Landrum Legacy at Mississippi College
MC alum visits Clinton to tour one of her father’s ‘great accomplishments’
Alumni Hall at Mississippi College was a significant point of pride for Monroe J. Landrum Sr.
The Clinton resident was called upon to direct the construction of Alumni Hall, which has been the center of campus life for almost a century. The building was completed in 1926.
“He felt that it was one of his great accomplishments,” said Landrum’s daughter, Jannelle Landrum Hamilton ’59. “I remember his discussion with my brothers, who often worked with him, about how difficult it was to do this building.
“You didn’t have ‘cherry-pickers’ in those days that could hold you up to do the brickwork on the higher levels.”
Decades after its completion, one of the building’s most distinguishing features drew the admiration of one of Mississippi College’s First Ladies, Rhoda Royce.
“The former president’s wife once told me she had never seen Palladian windows as large as the ones in this building,” Hamilton said. “I thought that was very special.”
Hamilton and her husband, Dr. Joseph H. Hamilton Jr. ’54, toured Alumni Hall on Oct. 25 during MC’s Homecoming Weekend. It was the first time in several years they had visited their alma mater.
Dr. Hamilton, a Landon C. Garland Distinguished Professor of Physics at Vanderbilt University, is an internationally celebrated scientist. A world-class researcher, he co-discovered new elements 113, 115 and 117 in the Periodic Table of Chemistry Elements.
His most recent book, “Science and Humanity: The Extraordinary Life of Joseph H. Hamilton,” is scheduled to be released this winter.
Dr. Hamilton credits MC for sparking his interest in physics and advanced mathematics. Before entering the Christian University, he had never taken a physics class.
The couple also visited the Gore Arts Complex and saw the ceramics studio that they dedicated in honor of Landrum and his wife, Nell. Jannelle Hamilton recalled taking classes under internationally acclaimed artist Dr. Samuel Gore, the “Founding Father of the Mississippi College Art Department.”
MC President Blake Thompson joined them on a tour of the Institute for Southern Storytelling facility at the Gore Arts Complex. While signing the Institute’s guestbook, Dr. Hamilton drew a model of Tennessine, atomic element 117 that he co-discovered. He named the element after his home state
Dr. Hamilton then spoke to a class of budding scientists at MC in the Math, Chemistry and Computer Science Building.
Many buildings on campus have changed since Dr. Joe and Jannelle Hamilton were undergraduate students at Mississippi College. Jannelle Hamilton is confident her father would have approved of the renovations that have been made to Alumni Hall through the years.
