The Old Main Bell

On Saturday, October 1, 1994, Carthage President F. Gregory Campbell dedicated the Old Main Bell in its perch above the wishing well, north of Seidemann Natatorium. As part of the 1994 Homecoming celebration, a 1944 and a 1994 alumna rang the bell in unison, symbolically uniting the old and new campuses.

The inscription on the dedication plaque reads:

For decades, this bell proudly crowned Old Main, the first building on the Carthage campus in Carthage, Illinois. After athletic victories, students would race down Evergreen Walk to ring the bell, thus resounding another Carthage triumph.

The College welcomes the bell to the Kenosha campus with gratitude to generations of Carthaginians who have established this tradition.

The installation of the bell, made possible by the Classes of 1944 and 1994, celebrates a 50-year span of alumni generosity.

October 1, 1994

Old Main no longer stands, but its memory is proudly preserved.