University Archives News

Presidential Salute: From Hinman to Schapiro

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In honor of United States President's Day (February 15th), the University Archives would like to honor our own executive leadership by sharing our Presidents of Northwestern website.

All 24 distinguished gentleman are represented with photographs, personal biographies, and career highlights. Take a look around and learn about these accomplished individuals, from the Methodist clergymen of yesteryear to the internationally recognized scholars of today.

If You Get My Drift

During January, 1918, over 42 inches of snow fell in the Chicago area. Northwestern was snowed in three times. As the Alumni News reported later, the snow "interfered considerably with the normal program of the Evanston departments of the University...The streets approaching the campus were buried in drifts several feet deep in places so that the passage of vehicles was impossible."

Coincidence Worthy of Fiction

Readers of a certain age will know the name Betty White at least for the actress's role on the late 1980's TV sitcom, "Golden Girls." So why, you ask, would the University Archives's blog begin this installment thus? Because "Betty White" was also inhabited by another female person, in this case one who attended Northwestern in the late 1920's – and who, as a matter of fact, won a College Humor-Doubleday, Doran contest for best campus novel in 1930. Her entry, called I Lived This Story, depicts the disillusionment of a sorority woman of unusual depth, Dorinda Clark, with the unwonted frivolity of campus life. Attending a certain unnamed Midwestern university suspiciously reminiscent of you-know-where, Lucinda crosses paths with intellectuals and distinctly non-fraternity types, who implicate her cozy worldview and set her provocatively adrift.

From the inscription alone, we know the book will treat of serious themes: Ms. White dedicates it to her writing teacher at Northwestern, Bernard De Voto, one of the era's most distinguished man of letters. We know of this dedication because the University Archives has, lately and belatedly, come by a copy of the novel.

But there's a curious twist to Ms. White's own story. It transpires that author Betty White hailed from Oak Park, Illinois, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert White. What's funny about that is that the "other" Betty White – the actress – was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Horace White, at the time of her birth, of … Oak Park, Illinois. Hmmm, what are "they" trying to tell us?!

Sounds too quirky to be true. In a novel, such coincidence would be dismissed as implausible, contrived. In real life, though, true is just what it is. So the next time you're reading Dickens, then, cut him a little extra slack!

Betty White's tell-all novel is available in the University Archives.

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Object Lesson: I Fall to Pieces

A monthly feature highlighting the artifact collection of the University Archives.

“Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone”
-Jorge Luis Borges

"If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me."
-Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller

Even the grandest of towers surrounding us on campus will one day crumble into dust—and some sooner than others. Down in University Archives we have a few reminders of this material transience: pieces of buildings which are no more. The pieces have a mix of reliable provenance linking them to their former structures, coupled with stories retold over several generations of archivists. We try to establish historical proof when possible, but we are also in the business of storytelling down in the basement of Deering Library.

More Than Meets the Eye

Through the generosity of Eric and Marjorie Tobey Rudd, the University Archives recently acquired the above photograph, bringing us back to a time before electric lights, automobiles, and, apparently, leaves. If you're familiar with the Evanston campus, you'll probably recognize Northwestern's oldest building, University Hall, which was built in 1869. However, you might be hard-pressed to recognize that the thin dirt path is in actuality our beloved Sheridan Road.

A closer look at this photograph will reveal a lot more interesting information, however. Immediately in front of the forest is an oddly cross-shaped tree; close investigation reveals it to be an early telephone pole (or just as possibly a telegraph pole.) Our resources suggest that telephone service arrived in Evanston in 1882.

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At the same time, in the far left of the picture, you can see the outline of a tiny building, possibly an outhouse. A basement toilet was an original feature of University Hall, so perhaps the outhouse was obsolete even to the photographer!

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Finally, on the far right of the picture, near where Fisk Hall is today, one can begin to see the side of a large building, exactly where Northwestern's first gymnasium used to stand. The gym opened on February 1, 1876, setting an earliest possible date for this photo.

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It's fun to wonder how much of the rest of Northwestern's history is hidden away in photographs like these. If you'd like to find out, feel free to stop by the Archives sometime and ask to browse our photograph collection!

Another memorable football victory, 1940

Northwestern defeated Illinois last Saturday (November 14, 2009) on the gridiron, by a final score of 21-16. If you missed the game, you can always read the recap and watch highlights on the NU Athletics site; but now you can watch another memorable NU win over Illinois from 1940 on the Football Films section of the University Archives web site! Yes, we're adding to our collection of digitized football films available online. Watch NU play Indiana, Minnesota, Great Lakes, Iowa State, and now Illinois in days gone by.

In the 1940 game, Northwestern beat Illinois by the comfortable margin of 32-14, including a 73-yard touchdown run by Paul Soper. Here's the game preview as published in the Daily Northwestern:

Object Lesson: Whatsoever Things Are Furry

A monthly feature highlighting the artifact collection of the University Archives.

Opening a large archival box in artifact storage we are met with a set of dagger-like teeth filling lips curled back in a snarl and yellow eyes that shine with anger. Thankfully, this ferocious beast was killed and stuffed sometime in the 1920s, so the danger is long past. You are looking at a taxidermy wildcat that has a long Northwestern history.