Memorial Stadium site from the University of Minnesota Libraries

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ofergopher said:
Foster: If you like this site, the book that you will like just as well is the University of Minnesota Football Vault. Here's the Amazon page, with a couple of reader reviews that describe it. It has a very well-written narrative, and it is filled with replicas of programs, tickets, flyers, pennants, letters, and what not to give it the feel of a scrapbook as well as a good reference work. The list price is $49, but you shouldn't have to pay that. Costco had it for half price last Christmas but I doubt if it is still in stock. I think local (Twin Cities) Borders and Barnes/Noble stores have it for about $35. Amazon lists it at that rate and has some discounted used copies as well.
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Thanks, I'll look for that!

Does this website have a link on the main Gopher Sports website? If not, it should!
 

The Minnesota Football Vault is an absolute gem and must have coffee table book. I got it as a gift and was blown away by it.

Go Gophers!!
 

Zales04 said:
I am declaring this the finest website ever created at the University of Minnesota! I am in complete awe of what you have on there so far.

The letter from the architect to the regents was interesting in that he visited other stadiums and mentioned what styles could work. I also found it interesting that he mentioned placing the stadium near the "Farm" in St. Paul. 80 years later people were still trying to push that site.

The model of the proposed stadium I've see on the MHS picture site, and that style would have looked amazing on campus - very classical in design.
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Here is a direct link to the scrapbook that includes the 1943 article and model for a new stadium. There is an interesting reference in the article (on p. 61 of the scrapbook), which was apparently written by the University's long-time campus architect, that talks about why a new stadium was needed:

That Memorial Stadium from which you viewed Minnesota's 1943 war time football creation yesterday is, as its name implies, the University's monument to the first world war's dead. But if you sat in one of those distant seats, you will admit Memorial stadium is inadequate to serve modern demands.

It once merited a medal for its architectural splendor. But just try to talk beauty to a helpless hombre who only got a bird's eye view of a home halfback scampering for the winning touchdown.

Once upon a time, the late and venerated Knute Rockne, touring the stadia of the nation to incorporate his travelogue into Notre Dame's proposed edifice, made the rounds of Memorial stadium, in company with a Holy Father from South Bend. When he finished the tour, "Rock" remarked to his companion:

"And there, Father, is how NOT to build a stadium."​

Most of the scrapbook is devoted to newspaper coverage of the 1940 national champion Gophers - a good year for scrapbooking! Be sure to use the full-screen option when viewing the scrapbook and the game programs.
 

I never attended a game at Memorial Stadium. I started following the Gophers in the late 70's, but never had the opportunity to make to a game there, as I lived in NW Minnesota. I was thrilled just for the rare occasions I got to watch them on TV, otherwise it was via the radio.

If we had rennovated Memorial, we would still be playing there for many decades to come. Maybe if the demolition had been delayed for a few more years, until serious talk about getting out of the Dome had begun, it might still have been possible to do rennovations.
 

ofergopher said:
Foster: If you like this site, the book that you will like just as well is the University of Minnesota Football Vault. Here's the Amazon page, with a couple of reader reviews that describe it. It has a very well-written narrative, and it is filled with replicas of programs, tickets, flyers, pennants, letters, and what not to give it the feel of a scrapbook as well as a good reference work. The list price is $49, but you shouldn't have to pay that. Costco had it for half price last Christmas but I doubt if it is still in stock. I think local (Twin Cities) Borders and Barnes/Noble stores have it for about $35. Amazon lists it at that rate and has some discounted used copies as well.
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The other rumor...and don't completely trust me on this but I do remember hearing be bandied about was that there was going to be some kind of Gopher football/ memorial Stadium compilation made into book form, and that everyone at the first game in TCF was going to be given one...

Like I said this cold have fallen apart since i last heard it which was some time ago...but i do remember it being said
 


gopherguy05 said:
The other rumor...and don't completely trust me on this but I do remember hearing be bandied about was that there was going to be some kind of Gopher football/ memorial Stadium compilation made into book form, and that everyone at the first game in TCF was going to be given one...

Like I said this cold have fallen apart since i last heard it which was some time ago...but i do remember it being said
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Was it a rumor? I remember it being "officially" announced by the book's author in an interview. I suppose things could have changed but if so, the U screwed up by not squashing this announcement a while ago.
 

GoAUpher said:
Was it a rumor? I remember it being "officially" announced by the book's author in an interview. I suppose things could have changed but if so, the U screwed up by not squashing this announcement a while ago.
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Correct....Its even in a Gopherhole interview with the author of said book, Ross Bernstein:

"
And, I am proud to announce that I am doing a new Gopher Football coffee table book that will be given away to all of the season ticket holders next Fall at TCF Bank Stadium. Fully 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Gopher scholarship fund, so I am very excited about that too. I just interviewed Murray Warmath, who is 96 years old, for one of the forewords. It is a really cool project"
 

Wow! Fantastic work on the Memorial Stadium website.

I second the recommendations for the University of Minnesota Football Vault. I bought a copy for my dad for Father's Day. He loved it so much he turned right around and bought a copy for my grandpa. The book is full of very solid writing and research (kudos to the local author, Rick Moore), and has tons of replica items included. Great stuff.
 

I found a great line in the 1928 Goalpost program when we played Creighton. They had a picture of the recently completed Fieldhouse (Williams Arena) and a short article about it on the inside. The line reads like this: "In selecting the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse as the cover illustration, the Goal Post is not suffering under the delusion that football games take place indoors rather than out."
 



I may have never attended a game at Memorial Stadium, but I have a piece of it. I have a square piece of the bleachers with the number "5" on it. It's hanging up in my living room over a door.
 


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