Education

For the past 150 years, since its founding in 1870 as St. Ignatius College, Loyola University Chicago has served and educated both the immigrant and established residents of Chicago, excelling in providing a comprehensive liberal arts education. One of the largest Jesuit universities in the United States, Loyola Chicago offers over 80 undergraduate and 170 graduate and professional programs in the humanities, sciences, medicine, nursing, social work, law, business, and communications on four campuses--three in Chicago and one in Rome, Italy. Now in its second century of service, and with an enrollment of over 17,000 students and 150,000 alumni, half of whom live in Chicago, Loyola continues its mission of preparing people to lead extraordinary lives.

Using historical images and recollections, Evanston Hospital School of Nursing: 1898–1984 highlights the marketing, education, curriculum, and values of EHSN as well as the students’ experience and dormitory life.

Evanston Hospital was founded in 1891, followed by the school of nursing seven years later. Evanston Hospital School of Nursing (EHSN) provided education at a reasonable cost while the students provided care to patients in between studies. In its first 50 years, the school graduated 1,157 nurses, with the first class of two graduating in 1901. EHSN, like other diploma programs, flourished until educational cost escalated, technology boomed, training methods evolved, and a conversation about where and how nurses should be educated began. After 86 years of training nurses, EHSN closed.

Carolyn Hope Smeltzer and Barbara Ann McQuillan, 1972 EHSN graduates, are proud of their education and realize the historical value of the program. Having graduated 50 years ago, they are passionate about preserving the school’s history and capturing classmates’ memories. Their desire to keep alive EHSN history enables past generations of diploma graduates to cherish their own memories and future generations of nurses to look back on past teaching practices. This book will elicit familiar fond memories for all who attended or taught in any diploma school of nursing.

Since opening its doors in September 1965, Rock Valley College has been a cornerstone of education and community for northern Illinois. From its formation following a district-wide referendum in October 1964, the college embraced national and regional movements, demonstrating that Rock Valley College’s story is one of progress and transformation.

During the 1970s, the college expanded educational, employment, and athletic opportunities for women, and in the 1980s, it confronted the region’s Rust Belt decline through investments in advanced technical and health care fields. This legacy continued in the 21st century when Rock Valley College formed partnerships with Northern Illinois University and OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center. The college’s dedication to high-quality liberal arts and science education has empowered students to transfer to four-year universities, while its commitment to fostering an inclusive environment reflects the growing diversity of the community. Rock Valley College’s influence extends far beyond the classroom. Its alumni—over 33,000 degree and certificate holders—serve as a testament to the college's lasting impact.

Daniel Blumlo, PhD, is a history professor at Rock Valley College, where he has taught since 2010. This book draws upon images and documents from the Rock Valley College Archives and the Starlight Theater Archives to chronicle the college’s dynamic journey.

Illinois State University was founded in 1857 as Illinois's first public higher education institution. Initially named Illinois State Normal University (ISNU) due to its mission to train teachers, the university gained early national recognition for its work in developing educational philosophies. One of those philosophies, Herbartianism, was brought to ISNU in the 1890s and was cultivated by some of the profession's leading educators, including Charles DeGarmo, head of modern languages and reading at the university. ISNU celebrated 100 years of service in 1957 and, on January 1, 1964, dropped "normal" from its name. Now known as Illinois State University, the institution offers over 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs ranging from the humanities to the sciences and nursing within its six colleges. With an enrollment of over 20,000 students and over 200,000 alumni, Redbird Nation continues to thrive as it moves toward its third century of academic excellence.

Western Illinois University (WIU), located in Macomb and Moline, has a rich history of service to the people of Illinois. Founded in 1899, WIU began as a normal school for the training of rural teachers. It has grown into a university of over 12,000 students, offering a broad range of quality undergraduate and graduate degrees in its four academic colleges and School of Extended Studies. This book tells the unique story of WIU, from its humble beginnings to today, with special emphasis on its astounding growth and development in the decades following World War II.

Columbia College Chicago was founded in 1890 as the Columbia School of Oratory.

It was a coeducational institution with teaching methods of physical culture, expression, elocution, public reading, and dramatic action. From the 1930s onward, the college focused on the growing fields of radio, television, and other mass communication. By the 1960s, the school had created a liberal-arts curriculum with a hands-on approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. In the 1970s, the college relocated to its permanent home in the South Loop. Today, with deference to its past, the college encourages students to author the culture of their times, to produce a body of work, and to realize their abilities according to the school's original motto ""esse quam videri"" (to be rather than to seem).

In 1945, faculty and students at Chicago's Central YMCA College walked out to protest admission quotas on race and religion and created one of the nation's first institutions to admit all qualified students. Despite having no endowment, library, or campus, Roosevelt College attracted more than 1,000 students in its first year. The next year, it purchased Chicago's famed Auditorium Building. By 1949, enrollment topped 6,000, and the Roosevelt story captured the nation's imagination. In 1954, Florence Ziegfeld's Chicago Musical College merged with Roosevelt, and five years later the college became a university. As it nears its 70th anniversary, Roosevelt has six colleges, two campuses, and over 85,000 alumni, including former Chicago mayor Harold Washington. This book celebrates a pioneering institution that helped shape the history of American higher education.

Anyone who has driven through central Lake County, Illinois, has likely wandered across the entrance to Mundelein Seminary. The arched gateway is a teaser to the magnificence that lies within.

The heavily forested grounds and sparkling lake provide a backdrop to the unique Colonial architecture of the buildings. The seminary was the dream of George William Mundelein, who told reporters as early as 1916 of his plans to build a seminary shortly after he was named archbishop of Chicago. Mundelein's vision was grand. He wanted a seminary to rival the best in the world, and he wanted it to be truly American. He succeeded. Today, Mundelein Seminary is the largest priesthood preparation program in the country, training priests for Chicago and 31 dioceses around the country and the world.

For many years the residents of Southwestern Illinois lacked convenient, affordable access to higher education. To address this situation, Southern Illinois University opened residence centers at the former Shurtleff College in Alton and in East St. Louis in 1957. Enrollment at the two residence centers during 1957-1958 exceeded all expectations, and continued to increase dramatically. In 1960, Illinois voters approved a statewide Universities Bond Issue that included $25 million designated for an Edwardsville campus of SIU. Situated on 2,600 acres of Illinois hills northeast of St. Louis, and featuring buildings designed by architect Gyo Obata, the beautiful campus opened in September of 1965. Within five years, enrollment surpassed 13,000. Since 1957, SIUE has become the largest university in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and has produced more than 70,000 graduates. The university today offers 83 degree programs to students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Business, Engineering, Dental Medicine, Nursing, and Education.

Helping orphaned and disadvantaged boys get a chance at a better life was the mission of Brother James, founder of the Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross, a German Catholic Order that sent Brothers to the United States in 1924. To that end, St. James Trade School was established in Springfield, Illinois, in 1928. Two years later, the first group of apprentices was admitted; they and hundreds who followed them through 1972 went on to become certified mechanics, carpenters, and electricians among other valuable trades. High school diplomas were earned beginning in 1948. In 1975, Brother James Court (BJC) opened with a brand new building specifically designed as a residential intermediate care facility. BJC provides both residency and advocacy for developmentally disabled men. Providing the highest quality care, consistent with the spirit and principles of the Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross, programs at BJC meet residents' needs and allow them to live happily at BJC for as long as they need.

Student life at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has undergone remarkable changes since the Second World War. What had been Southern Illinois Normal University became Southern Illinois University, which in turn became Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The university grew from a campus with 2,000 students principally drawn from the immediate region to a university 10 times that size with students coming from throughout the nation and from overseas. This history focuses on the changes in student life during this era, including fashions and fads, homecoming parades and politics, and housing and hangouts. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is about students who have

attended the university over the past seven decades.

In 2016, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) reached its 150th year. What sustains an institution is sometimes extraordinary, sometimes mundane, and often simply a matter of the sheer will of those involved. An unparalleled museum school, SAIC embodies something greater than the individuals who have passed through it, and yet it has also depended upon the unique and special nature of its protagonists--its founders who survived the Great Chicago Fire and rebuilt the school, a president who cast the hands and face of Abraham Lincoln, an alumna who was a celebrated illustrator and an activist in the women's suffrage movement, the creators of monumental sculptures throughout the country, and numerous scholars of art history and technique--to challenge and shape its form. The school's history is punctuated by marvelous moments of heightened public discourse in art making and scholarship. This book represents a glimpse into the lives of generations of students, staff, and faculty as full participants in an astounding learning environment.

The story of the University of St. Francis began in 1920 when the seeds were planted for Assisi Junior College. The school's evolution continued when, as the College of St. Francis, it awarded bachelor's degrees in 1930, became coeducational in 1970, and attained university status in 1998. The university owes its existence to the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate, founded by Mother Alfred Moes in 1865, with Mother Thomasine Fryewska serving as the first president of the institution. Currently this vibrant community claims over 3,500 students on the main campus in Joliet, the many off-campus sites, and online. Throughout the years, the school has grown, adding buildings, programs, and students, but has remained rooted in its Franciscan identity of respect, service, integrity, and compassion.

The University of Illinois was founded in 1867 and expanded into Chicago in the 1890s. Through time, demands for the growth of the urban campus were answered. Under the leadership of Mayor Richard J.
Daley, the Circle Campus was created and located in 1965 on the Near West Side of Chicago in the historic Hull-House neighborhood. In 1982, Circle Campus joined with the Medical Center to form the University of Illinois at Chicago. With outreach programs coordinated in the Great Cities Initiative, the University recognized its urban location as a major strength. Over the last decade, UIC has helped to develop a new model of higher education: the comprehensive urban research university. This volume contains almost two hundred historic photographs that
serve as a rich record of the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois. Today, with 15 colleges located in a prominent urban setting, the campus is the largest and most diverse in the Chicago area, serving students from around the world. The University of Illinois at Chicago has grown to about 25,000 students, with 12,000 faculty and staff, and is one of the hundred largest research universities in the nation. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in more than 230 disciplines.

In 1867, a teacher training school was formed in a leaky railroad boxcar in Blue Island, Illinois. Over the next 150 years, the school grew from a rural county certificate-granting program to Chicago State University (CSU). During the 1930s, CSU was at the forefront of preparing teachers for diverse learners, and by the 1980s, the institution expanded its influence by partnering with international universities. At its inception, there were 13 pupils, and by the mid-1990s, the university had a student body exceeding 8,500 students. As the school grew, so did its influence. Now in the 21st century, CSU has become a hub for education, science and technology, and health professions, offering baccalaureate through doctoral degrees. In addition to academics, the institution has a rich history of student activism, athletics, and cultural activities.

North Park University was founded in Minneapolis in 1891 to provide basic education for Swedish immigrants and theological training for students entering the ministry. The school moved to the North Park community on the outskirts of Chicago in 1894. Since that time, the cornfields and cabbage patches in the area have given way to stores, bungalows, and apartment buildings, and the campus now covers 30 acres in a bustling urban neighborhood. The school has become an ethnically and racially diverse Christian university and seminary offering degrees in a wide range of disciplines and enrolling 3,300 students from across the country and around the world. It is one of the few evangelical Christian universities in the United States located in a major city.

Now the twelfth largest among more than 50 private colleges and universities in the State of Illinois, Lewis University was established in 1932 as a small aeronautical school for boys and has developed into a dynamic, coeducational, and comprehensive Catholic university with a richly diverse student body. Founded by the Archdiocese of Chicago and now sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis is faithful to its Catholic and Lasallian heritage, offering a values-centered curriculum rich in the Mission values of knowledge, fidelity, wisdom, and justice and guided by the spirit of association, which fosters community in teaching, learning, and service. As Lewis celebrates its 70th anniversary, this volume provides a visual glimpse into the history of this unique institution. Included are photographs of its humble beginnings, its evolution during and after World War II, dynamic enrollment growth during the 1960s, the dramatic campus transformation through construction, its student activities, its athletic successes, and the campus today.