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Caption: Dedication - Memorial Stadium
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EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:
ODE T O ILLINOIS BY LEW SARETT, ' I 6 Written for the Dedication of the Memorial Stadium. Read by the author at the Dedication Exercises, October jjt 1924 I % As beavers migrate to a virgin lake To build new dams, to make New homes and cities in a land Of lonely reach and strand, So did our sires forsake Their stagnant ponds, beneath the stress Of want and tyrannical excess; Venturing forth, a valiant band, Clear-eyed and strong, they sought to break The spine of a wilderness; And beating back with naked hands Ravenous beast and savage host, Until the uttermost Wild borderlands Were ringing with their fame And echoing their victory and joy, With giant furrows on the prairie sod They scrawled the glory and the name Of Illinois, And reared their soaring peaceful cities unto God. II O pioneers, O men of beaver mold, Know that the ancient dams still hold And newer, stronger bulwarks brace the old; That a mighty commonwealth has grown From the seedlings you have sown; Out of your strife and toil, A stately stalk of corn, robust of root, Nurtured by rich black prairie soil, {22}-
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