Memorial Union rose here in 1926 on Lake Mendota's south shore, an Italianate Renaissance Revival–style complex at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This place was created as a social and recreational gathering place for all students, explicitly designed to help break down socioeconomic barriers. Before the Union, the UW had no union; at its opening in 1928 then‑President Glenn Frank declared, "The Union is a living room, which converts the university from a house of learning to a home of learning.
Walk this space and you can feel why the UW’s Union earned a reputation as one of the most beautiful student centers on a university campus. On the building’s north side the Terrace offers that famous outdoor perch overlooking the lake. The Union’s story reached the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, recognized as an early American college union that was ground‑breaking in supporting ideas of Progressive Era education.
It is also closely tied to its first director, Porter Butts, who guided the Union’s development from 1928 to 1968 and was a thought‑leader in college unions. Porter Butts guided this union from 1928 to 1968, shaping what a college union could be.