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Eternal Flame a Tribute to Visionary Founder

Eternal Flame
January 06, 2020

William Hooper Councill Eternal Flame Memorial

[Make checks payable to AAMU Foundation and forward to 309 Patton Building, Normal, AL 35762]

Alabama A&M University has announced the upcoming construction of the William Hooper Councill Eternal Flame Memorial.  The project will be a lasting tribute to the visionary founder of AAMU and his enduring fight for education that has positively impacted the United States and beyond.

Dr. Councill and his wife Maria are entombed on the hillside campus, but the Memorial will bring added prominence and stature to the founder and his many contributions, noted Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr., in a recent year-end appeal to the AAMU Family and alumni.

The Memorial will be erected at the current gravesite on The Hill, and the new structure will surround the gravesite with a semicircular, canopied walkway.  An eternal flame will be set in the center of the walkway.

Estimated at a cost of $125,000, the project “will appropriately signify the immeasurable investment that Dr. Councill wove into the fabric of this world,” commented Dr. Hugine.

The names of Individuals/couples, organizations, chapters, churches, etc., contributing at least $5,000 will be enshrined at the Memorial site.  All other contributions will be acknowledged in a commemorative booklet at the dedication ceremony. 

For additional information or to make contributions, contact the Office of Marketing, Communication and Advancement, 309 Patton Hall, at (256) 372-8344.

- J. Saintjones