Unveiled in 1937 by former Prime Minister George Forbes, it commemorates Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson (1841–1934), after whom the pass is named.

[4][5][6] To raise the necessary funds, a conference of various organisations was initiated, to be chaired by Dan Sullivan, who at the time was mayor of Christchurch and member of parliament for the Avon electorate.

[10] The public meeting resolved that both memorials were to be built, with the stone pillar in the place originally chosen and the hut some distance closer to Arthur's Pass village.

The Sunlight League and the Youth Hostel Association felt compelled to go ahead with the memorial shelter as they had been fundraising for that purpose since they had presented the design earlier in the year.

[11] They had a fundraising brochure produced that contained a biography of Dobson written by the rector of Canterbury College, James Hight, and 12,000 copies were distributed throughout New Zealand.

Other dignitaries who attended included R. M. D. Thomson (chairman of Tarawera County Council, covering the Canterbury area up to the Main Divide), the Hon.