Memorial Campanile Doors of Memory and Doors of Kansas

Bernard "Poco" Frazier (1906-76) was a 1929 design graduate who in the early 1940s established the first KU classes in sculpture; he left the university for a number of years but returned in 1956 as sculptor-in-residence and later professor of sculpture. The bronze doors at the north and south entrances of the Memorial Campanile were dedicated June 6, 1955. Each of the four doors, cast at foundries in Mexico City, is 9 feet tall and 3 feet 3 inches wide and contains three panels. The images were designed to be viewed from bottom right to top left.

On the south: The Doors of Memory

• The inscription is “Cedant Arma, Humanitati” (Let Arms Yield to Humanity)



• From bottom right to top left: Silence, Meditation, Sorrow, Aspiration, Courage and Achievement



• These doors were the gift of Mr. and Mrs. A.E. Stoddard of Omaha in memory of their son, Lt. Robert E. Stoddard, who was killed at Iwo Jima in 1945.

On the north: The Doors of Kansas

• The inscription is “Ad Astra Per Aspera” (The motto of the state of Kansas: “To the stars through difficulty”)

From bottom right to top left: 

• Right door: History: Native/Explorer, Scout/Plainsman and Pioneer/Homemaker



• Left door: Idealism: Freedom/Equality, Education/Investigation and Worship/Faith



• These doors were the gift of Harry A. Hart, an alumnus in the early 1900s, to honor his parents, pioneer settlers of Mitchell County.

In 1978, Elden C. Tefft, a colleague of Frazier’s who collaborated on the original castings, replicated two panels to replace those damaged by vandals.