ANGEL VINDUIT OUR FUTURE.
Mysteries Abound
Eight Gargoyles Greet Museum Visitors
By Jerry Kern
The Dyche Museum of Natural History has a myriad collection of creatures on display inside.
The story behind these can probably be equaled by the story behind the creatures which are displayed on the outside. These "outside" creatures are the gargoyles which are perched along the top of the building on the south and east sides.
The eight gargoyles, four on each side, are about four feet tall. The stone carvings are mysterious enough when viewed at a distance, but when viewed at close range, a certain question adds to their mystery. The question is asked about inscriptions which are carved on the chest of three of the figures.
The inscription on one of the figures on the south side reads, "Rock Chalk." The inscriptions on two figures on the east side read, "J Hawk" and "KU." When read together, this is the famous KU chant. Why was this chant carved on the gargoyles?
IN 1901, when the new Dyche Hall was being constructed, an Italian sculptor, Joseph Robaldo Frazee, and his son Vitruvius began sculpting the gargoyles and other stone figures to decorate the outside of the new building. Prof. Raymond Hall, director of the Museum, ventured a guess at why the chant was carved on the gargoyles.
"The two Italian sculptors may have been trying to add a touch of humor to their work by carving the 'Rock Chalk' chant. The chant was famous, and was known by many people then," Hall said.
The word "Jay hawk" inspired the world-famous KU chant. "Rah! Rah! Jayhawk, KU!" was the way it started in the 1830's. An English professor later suggested that "Rock Chalk" be substituted for "Rah! Rah!" in honor of the limestone formation cropping out on Mount Oread—from which the early buildings were constructed.
Daily Kansas 5
Monday, December 6, 1965
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The "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU" chant was called by Theodore Roosevelt the greatest college chant he had ever heard. It has been used by fighting troops since the Philippine campaign in 1899.
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"KING RAT"
THE ORIGINAL question about the chant on the gargoyles still lacks a definite answer.
"I can remember the other two gargoyles being on the
there," Hall said.
north side of the building, but these would have been torn down when the new addition was built to the north of Dyche," he said.
When the gargoyles and other stone carvings were being sculpted, two KU students, Antonio Tommasini and Fred Pickett, stopped frequently to see the Frazee's at work.
ACCORDING TO Robert Taft, one time KU professor of chemistry, in his book, "Across the Years on Mount Oread," "The two students received a thrill never to be forgotten when Mr. Frazze allowed them to carve one of the figures.
Prof. Hall commented, "An old history professor, who died about six years ago, told me one day that the Jayhawk which the two students carved was on the west side at the top of one of those columns. There is about a two-inch crevice between it and the building. No one seemed to know where this Jayhawk was.
"IT IS THE feathered creature—said to be the original representation of the Jayhawk—with wings outspread that stands on a skull placed at the
AFTER A RECENT investigation, it was found that there really is a Jayhawk on the back side of the south entrance column. However, it is not known whether this is the Jayhawk carved by the students.
top of one of the four entrance columns of the Museum," Taft wrote.
"The old professor said if you stick your hand in this crevice, you can feel the Jay hawk which the two students carved. So I went out there one day and stuck my hand back in there; I found a nest of wasps. I haven't stuck my hand in there since, and I still don't know if the Jayhawk is back
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