By Kerry McDonough.
At first glance, the spot seems mysterious – a fortress at the top of the hill, intimidating to approach. Located on the top of Central Residential Area’s highest hill, the layers of thin black walls reach up to the shoulders of most adults, making it difficult to see over the various cut-outs until the adventurer climbs up the final incline and is squeezing themselves through the few small breaks in the wall or navigating their way through the mini-maze that are the layers of concentric circles. These walls represent different locations important to the third president of Massachusetts Agricultural College and first president of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, William Smith Clark, for whom this memorial was created.
Smith’s presence is clear to all from the center of the circles, as a giant granite rock with a plaque commemorating him, surrounded by other plaques describing his contributions to Amherst and abroad located on vectors from the granite focal point. Sections of the wall also reflect Clark’s life, from a section of the wall that is a silhouette of Clark’s family home to a silhouette of the present campus of UMass with an outline of the mountains in Sapporo Japan just behind it, uniting the Amherst landscape with a landscape that actually exists on the Eastern Hemisphere. There, Clark helped establish the Sapporo Agricultural College and served as an American representative who is still commemorated by the Japanese people as an unofficial ambassador, Christian missionary, agricultural educator, and professional academic leader today.
The memorial is located on top of what is now Clark Hill Road, just past Butterfield and Van Meter Halls, located where Clark’s home was formerly situated before it was gutted in a fire in 1890. It was funded by a combination of donors from the University of Massachusetts as well as Hokkaido University, formerly Sapporo Agricultural College, and individuals. Its creation in 1991 was the result of years of discussions in both Amherst and Japan faculty in the 1950s and 1960s and by undergraduate students in the 1970s and 1980s. Submissions for the memorial were advised to reflect Hokkaido University as well as Amherst landscapes or gardens that “symbolized Clark and his contributions to both universities,” according to the memorial brochure. After reviewing twenty finalists, UMass alumni Todd A. Richardson’s design was chosen for its elegant combination of landscape and cultural importance, and the half acre sculpture and garden was dedicated on October 17, 1991. The memorial is surrounded by the UMass Amherst campus and residence halls on the hill side and across the street are residential homes and an elementary school, a symbol of the continuing education around Clark’s old home.
With as much history as the memorial holds, most who frequent the area don’t know about its importance. A popular myth the past few years by freshmen who visited the area was that Japanese schoolchildren had an identical memorial on the exact other side of the earth, regardless that geography would place the other side of the world just off the southern coast of Australia. Each year the students who live closest to the memorial refer to it by a different name – in 2009-2010, it was lovingly referred to as the “Cult Stone” for the way it created a cult of visitors, many who used the memorial as an escape to smoke or gossip where they could spot potential “intruders” from a distance. Those same students utilized the terrain for an unofficial “Van Meter Butterfield Meet and Greet” that garnered over a hundred students mingling through the memorial’s walls and reclining on its bench in a smoky, energetic, and music-filled gathering. During 2010-2011, the students closest to the memorial established it as a place to read and write new poetry and essays, owing to the proximity of the memorial to the living and learning communities focused on humanities and the fine arts nearby. The 2011-2012 troupe relied on the memorial as a place to stage plays and quick improvised swordfights, adding a hint of danger and intrigue to a place focused on positive and friendly interactions.
Regardless of what small adventures the Clark memorial is used for by each year’s student visitors, it can always be relied on for a few things. The view from the memorial of different residence halls in the Central area, as well as the lower UMass campus, is stunning, particularly when the sun is setting across campus, lighting up the sky with layers of clouds and color that thrill the viewer. The circular benches are the perfect place to dance and jump from bench to bench while belting the “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” song from “The Sound of Music,” or to lie down and stare at the night stars while covered in blankets on a chilly November evening. The area is perfect for reflection or reading, a bit of solitude and defined space to admire on a bustling and vivacious campus.
Clark’s attempts at connecting the soon-to-be University of Massachusetts Amherst campus to other locations across the world, particularly concerning Japan in the late nineteenth century, showcase his drive to improve both the standing of his own University as well as improve the opportunities available to others. By creating a space where families, students, and wandering visitors can interact and appreciate the work Clark has done and the beauty of the University today, the supporters of the memorial from across the world have shown that Clark’s work lives on.
All photos courtesy of Kerry McDonough. Memorial map courtesy of The William Smith Clark Memorial brochure, 1992, original text by Marjorie Tuttle, additional text by Laurel E. Foster-Moore, Japanese translation by Chisato Kitagawa. Brochure can be found at http://media.umassp.edu/massedu/international/WSClark.pdf.