photograph courtesy rhodes college
Halliburton Memorial Tower was dedicated in 1962. The city’s largest bell rings every hour and half-hour.
Dear Vance: Why did Rhodes College erect a tower in memory of the author Richard Halliburton, even though he never attended that school? — H.F., Memphis.
Dear H.F.: I was planning to call my forthcoming autobiography The Royal Road to Romance, until I remembered that was the title of the 1926 best-seller by Richard Halliburton. The publication of that book was followed by many others — The Glorious Adventure (1927), New Worlds to Conquer (1929), The Flying Carpet (1933), and Seven League Boots (1935) among them — which made him one of the most popular authors in America.
photograph courtesy wikipedia / public domain
Richard Hallliburton, 1900-1939
Although described as a travel writer, Halliburton didn’t tell readers where to stay or suggest the best places to dine. Instead, he packed his stories with first-hand accounts of marvelous adventures: swimming the Panama Canal, climbing the Matterhorn, wading the reflecting pool at the Taj Mahal, following Hannibal’s route through the Alps (on elephants!), circling the globe by airplane, and so much more.
His books were wildly successful, and he also published stories in newspapers and national magazines, broadcast his exploits over the radio, and packed auditoriums with his lecture tours. In a few short years, he became one of the most famous men in the world.
Halliburton’s greatest adventure was his last. In a specially designed Chinese junk called the Sea Dragon, he planned to sail from Hong Kong to San Francisco, arriving at the grand opening of the Golden Gate International Exposition in California in 1939. But three weeks into the risky voyage, he and his crew sailed into a typhoon. His last words, heard by anxious listeners following the journey on shortwave radio, were, “Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here instead of me.” The ship was never found.
It’s true that the famous author never attended Rhodes College, or Southwestern at Memphis as it was known in his day. Richard and the Halliburton family — father Wesley, mother Nelle, younger brother Wesley Jr. — grew up in Brownsville, Tennessee. In the early 1900s, they moved to Memphis, where Wesley Sr. made a fortune as a real estate developer. As one of this city’s most prominent businessmen, in 1925 he played a key role in persuading the trustees of Southwestern Presbyterian University, then located in Clarksville, Tennessee, to move the tiny college to Memphis, where it prospered. So, it seems he took a special interest in Rhodes from the first day the school opened here.
Young Wesley died at age 15 of a heart condition. For a while, Richard attended Memphis University School, then transferred to Lawrenceville Academy in New Jersey. In 1921, he graduated from Princeton University, and that was the end of his formal studies. In a letter to his father, he wrote, “I wanted freedom to indulge in whatever caprice struck my fancy, freedom to search in the farthermost corners of the earth for the beautiful, the joyous, and the romantic.”
“Today, Southwestern is like a charming lady who is becomingly attired, lacking only an appropriate hat. Mrs. Halliburton and I decided to buy this lady a hat to complete her sartorial elegance.” — Wesley Halliburton, Sr.
Whenever he needed a break from his travels, he would stay with his parents at their homes on Central and later Court Avenues. In the 1930s, he moved to Laguna Beach, California, where he built “Hangover House,” a modern, cast-concrete mansion perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. That house, little changed, still stands today.
After the author’s death, his parents donated his vast collection of manuscripts, letters, books, and other memorabilia to Princeton and Rhodes, where they are available to researchers. Nelle Halliburton passed away in 1955, but she and Wesley had already decided to build a special monument to their son in Memphis.
photograph courtesy rhodes college
Rhodes College President Peyton Rhodes (left) looks on as Wesley Halliburton, father of the famous explorer, turns the first shovelful of dirt at the groundbreaking for the Richard Halliburton Memorial Tower on July 20, 1961. Behind him are the construction contractor, B.B. Scarborough, and the campus architect, H. Clinton Parrent, Jr.
And so, in 1961, Wesley met with Dr. Peyton Rhodes, the college president (and yes, the namesake of the current school) and gave him an astonishing gift — $400,000, to be used for the construction of the 140-foot Richard Halliburton Memorial Bell Tower. The college’s official architect, H. Clinton Parrent Jr. from Nashville, designed the tower. The exterior would be a blend of Arkansas sandstone, Indiana limestone, and Vermont slate to match the Collegiate Gothic Revival style of the other campus buildings.
The Halliburtons meant for this gift to be more than a tribute to their son; they hoped it would add beauty to the campus. At the groundbreaking on July 20, 1961, Wesley turned the first shovelful of dirt. “Today, Southwestern is like a charming lady who is becomingly attired, lacking only an appropriate hat,” he told reporters. “Mrs. Halliburton and I decided to buy this lady a hat to complete her sartorial elegance.”
Dr. Rhodes announced to the crowd of more than 200, “This memorial tower — rugged and yet delicate in its proportions — was selected as a fitting symbol of the high aspirations, achievements, and courage of Richard Halliburton.”
photograph courtesy rhodes college
The ancient French foundry of Les Fils de George Paccard cast the massive bell, which stands seven feet tall and weighs more than 8,000 pounds. The inscription visible here — “Not Fare Well, But Fare Forward, Voyagers” — is from “The Dry Salvages” a poem published in 1941 by T.S. Eliot.
It’s unfortunate these days that so few people remember just how famous Richard Halliburton was, but Rhodes students — and anyone who lives near the campus — are reminded of him every hour (and half-hour) by the mighty gong of the bell in the tower.
Although invisible, this bell is one of the most impressive elements of the memorial. Wesley, who oversaw every detail of the building’s construction, hired the French firm of Les Fils de George Paccard, considered one of the finest bell foundries in the world, to design and build a special bell for his son’s monument. Cast of bronze, the bell stands seven feet tall and weighs some 8,000 pounds, making it — according to The Commercial Appeal — the largest bell in Tennessee. Those same newspaper accounts noted that, “When struck, the tone is A flat, generally considered the most pleasing and melodious tone for a bell.” Wesley told reporters he hoped “the deep tones will have a tranquilizing effect on the community.”
President Rhodes asked the college faculty to submit suggestions for inscriptions to be carved around the bell, “which should relate to the love of travel and adventure, the thirst for knowledge, the glory of youth, and the pursuit of excellence.” Working with Wesley, they eventually settled on two: “The day shall not be up so soon as I / To try the fair adventure of tomorrow,” from Shakespeare’s King John, and “Not fare well, but fare forward, voyagers,” from T.S. Eliot’s “The Dry Salvages.”
The $10,000 bell was carried to America by ship to the port of New Orleans. From there, Gordon Transports of Memphis trucked it to the campus, and the local firm of Patterson Transfer, using a 180-foot heavy-duty crane, lowered it into place while the upper levels of the tower were under construction.
photograph by vance lauderdale
The Richard Halliburton Memorial Tower was dedicated on October 17, 1962. Inside, a beautiful mosaic of the Sea Dragon covers the floor, and shelves hold Halliburton’s books, as well as family photos and other memorabilia. That lobby space is often used for important receptions, and the terrace outside is a frequent site of small concerts and lectures.
I’m glad that Wesley Halliburton lived long enough to see this dream come true. He passed away three years later, on November 1, 1965.
Another, considerably more humble, monument to the writer and explorer can be found across town. In the Halliburton family plot at Forest Hill Cemetery, gravestones mark the final resting places of Wesley, Nelle, and Wesley Jr. Nearby, a plain stone marker is inscribed quite simply: Richard Halliburton, 1900 – 1939, Lost at Sea.
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MAIL: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis Magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101
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