Bill Bowers scrapbook and interview
The bell from the USS Arizona battleship is rung by four students in the bell tower of the University of Arizona Student Union. The bell was saved from salvage due to efforts by UA alumnus and WWII veteran Bill Bowers.
Collection area: University of Arizona
Collection dates: circa 1920s-2000s
Materials circa 1920s-2000s: Collection consists of 2 VHS and 2 Betacam SP tapes, a DVD, a photographic scrapbook created by Bowers documenting his years as a University of Arizona student, as well as some background information about the materials. The scrapbook is considerably fragile due to deteriorated binding.
This collection pertains to materials donated by Bill Bowers, who helped to save one of two bells from the battleship USS
In 1944, while serving as an Army captain at the Puget Sound Naval Yard in Bremerton, WA, Bowers came across the USS Arizona bell in a wooden crate while looking for metal scrap to signal gunmen. Bowers learned that the bell--forged from Arizona-mined copper and silver--was set to be melted down at the yard. He called on then UArizona President Alfred Atkinson requesting he contact then-Arizona Governor Sidney P. Osborn to save the bell from destruction.
The bell was delivered to UArizona in 1946. Surprised by the large scale of the bell, a committee placed it in the Arizona State Museum until a suitable, safe home could be secured. In 1951, the bell was placed in the clock tower of the new Student Union. Although it could be heard ringing after sports victories against out-of-state teams, it was enclosed and could not be seen in the old Union's tower. In its new home, the bell is now visible to all.
A proud and active UArizona alumnus, Bill Bowers received a Bear Down Award from the Arizona Alumni Association in 1999 for his efforts to save the USS Arizona bell.
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