The Memorial Union is a continuing memorial to Iowa State men and women who have served the United States in armed conflicts. The Memorial Union was first occupied in 1928 and additions were completed in 1939, 1952, 1958, 1965 and 1967. The Col. Harold Pride Lounge is named in honor of Harold Pride, who served as the Union Director from 1928 to 1959 and was Secretary of the Union Corporation from 1922 to 1972. Harold Pride was a colonel in the U.S. Army serving in both World War I and World War II. He was often called “Mr. Memorial Union” due to his long tenure as Union Director and Secretary of the Union Corporation. (Harold Pride was a 1917 graduate in Civil Engineering and initiated into Tau Beta Pi as a student by Iowa Alpha on May 4, 1916).
In addition, Charles Durham, a 1939 ISU alumnus in Civil Engineering, has the Great Hall named in his honor. (Charles W. Durham was initiated into Tau Beta Pi by Iowa Alpha as an Eminent Engineer on April 20, 1986)
Three other Tau Beta Pi members also had pivotal roles in the planning and construction of the Memorial Union:
• Maurice J. Riggs was President of the Iowa State Alumni Association from 1920 to 1925 and President of the Memorial Union Corporation from its inception in 1923 until 1925. An 1883 Iowa State graduate in Civil Engineering, he provided an early vision of the Memorial Union and impetus for a one-million-dollar fund raising effort to finance its construction. (Maurice Riggs was initiated into Tau Beta Pi by Iowa Alpha as an Iowa State Alumnus)
• Anson Marston, Dean of the College of Engineering from 1904 to 1932, served as Chairman of the Memorial Union Executive Committee from 1925 to 1930 (Anson Marston was initiated as a member of Tau Beta Pi by Iowa Alpha on April 21, 1909)
• Thomas R. Agg was Dean of the College of Engineering from 1932 to 1946 and served as Chairman of the Memorial Union Building Committee from 1926 to 1930 and Chairman of the Memorial Union Executive Committee from 1930 to 1946. (Thomas R. Agg was initiated as a member of Tau Beta Pi by Iowa Alpha on January 22, 1914)
In his book, “Iowa State Memorial Union – The First Fifty Years”, Harold Pride credits Anson Marston and Thomas Agg with having “saved the project from early disaster and brought an idealistic dream to reality”.