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The
Rock, Reborn
(July 3, 1959) - After years of hopeful speculation
and diligent research, curious onlookers standing
on the Parade Grounds of Virginia Military
Institute catch their first glimpse of a multi-ton
fragment of blue Virginia limestone not seen
for some 45 years. Carefully buried there
in 1914 by VMI Superintendent of Buildings
and Grounds Ora M. Baldinger (Alpha 133),
this |
Click above
for larger image |
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fragment was a part of the
famed limestone outcropping founders Hopkins, Quarles,
and Riley gathered at on a moonlit Sunday night
back in October 1868.
Originally blasted to allow for the enlarging of
VMI's Parade Grounds, Baldinger knew fragments of
the outcropping would be of historical interest
to the Fraternity at a later date - he just didn't
know when. Keeping that in mind, Baldinger strategically
used the rock as fill for the basement of a building
near the Superintendent's home and kept detailed
maps and notes of its new location. Those notes
proved valuable when, shortly after the initial
parade ground enlargement, it was enlarged yet again
and the building then covering and protecting our
rock's underground home was torn down as well.
It wasn't until the Fraternity moved its national
headquarters in 1957 from Indianapolis, Ind., to
Lexington, Va., that Baldinger traveled from his
home in Pasadena, Ca. to help pinpoint the "lost"
fragment's exact location. Once found and finally
excavated in 1959, the fragment was placed in front
of our Headquarters Shrine at 9 Lewis Street where
it remains today. |
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