On this Day in NU History

Sept. 30, 1899: Football: Northwestern, 0; Northwestern Alumni, 18.

from The Northwestern, Oct. 5, 1899 (click for full article)

Sept. 29, 1990: Football: Wildcats defeat Northern Illinois 24-7 in first win since 1988.

Click to read the Daily cover story

Sept. 28, 1839: Frances Elizabeth Willard is born.

Frances Willard was the head of the Evanston College for Ladies and then Northwestern's first Dean of Women upon the two school's merger. She is also known as a leading figure in the early temperance movement for her crusade against alcohol.

Frances Willard

Sept. 27, 1949: Miss Cornelia Fehner, who received an M.A. in Music Education from Northwestern in 1942, buys a winter coat in 103 degree weather. She has been appointed by the State Department to take charge of the U.S. Library in Warsaw, Poland.

Sept. 26, 1894: Dedication of Orrington Lunt Library.

Opening of Orrington Lunt Library, the University's first dedicated library building. Evening exercises at First Methodist church open to public. Address by Justin Winsor, LL. D., Librarian of Harvard University. Afternoon exercises in assembly room of the Library. Presentation speech by Orrington Lunt; speech of acceptance by President Rogers; ode for the occasion read by Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller; address by President Adams of University of Wisconsin. (1894)

Read an excerpt from the dedication program (pdf)

Sept. 25, 1968: The Student Senate passes a resolution calling for the immediate and public destruction of information questionnaires administered to freshman students.

The Student Senate passes a resolution calling for the immediate and public destruction of information questionnaires administered to freshman students after objections to questions of a political nature and questions concerning involvement in past demonstrations. A member of the national Students for a Democratic Society claims that similar questionnaires at another institution had been used as evidence against a national SDS officer convicted of resisting the draft.

Sept. 1894: Matriculants required to sign pledge not to participate in hazing or cane-rushing.

Matriculants required to sign pledge not to participate in hazing or cane-rushing. At this time, rivalries between classes had grown into ritualized and often violent competitions. University administrators eventually chose to intercede to curtail the excess.(1894)

Matriculation Card, 1934 (signature redacted)

Sept. 1864: Miner Raymond, D.D., appears in faculty as Instructor in Moral Philosophy.

Miner Raymond, D.D., appears in faculty as Instructor in Moral Philosophy; Louis Kistler, A.M., as Instructor in Greek. (1864)

Miner Raymond

Sept. 22, 1852: Committee of trustees appointed to recommend a site for the College.

View the Trustee Minutes (pdf)

Ultimately, trustee Orrington Lunt persuaded his colleagues to consider the sparsely-settled community of Ridgeville, later Evanston, as the site for their university. Read a florid account of the settlement. (pdf)

Sept. 21, 1987: Sports and Aquatics Center opens.

NU's $16.2 million Sports and Aquatics Center opens after a year of construction delays. (1987)

Design sketch for Sports and Aquatics Center (photograph: Jim Ziv)

Sept. 20, 1891: Advisory board, called University Senate, organized.

Advisory board, called University Senate, organized, to consist of the President, four faculty members, three students each, from senior, junior and sophomore classes, and two from freshman class. (1891)

Sept. 19, 1998: Miss America Kate Shindle, an NU student, crowns her successor in Atlantic City.

From The Daily Northwestern

Shindle was one of several NU students and alumnae to win recognition as a beauty queen. This has long been recognized as a part of the school's tradition, including in the song "Sing a Song of College Days":

Sing a song of college days
Tell me where to go,
Northwestern for her pretty girls,
Wisconsin where they row,
Michigan for champions,
Purdue for jolly boys,
Chicago for her Standard Oil,
And for suckers, Illinois."
(circa 1920)

Sept. 18, 1856: College opens, total registration for the year is twenty-one.

After its founding in 1850, Northwestern first opened its doors to students in 1856. A faculty of two guided the initial enrollment of 21 students. There were five members of the first commencement class of 1859.

Old College, 1877

Sept. 1976: Playboy Magazine features Northwestern in its "Campus Action Chart '76," describing the school's men as "Young Republicans obsessed with grades, grad school and getting on," while the women are "Young Republicans but good looking."

Playboy Magazine features Northwestern in its "Campus Action Chart '76," describing the school's men as "Young Republicans obsessed with grades, grad school and getting on," while the women are "Young Republicans but good looking." The administration wins an "A" on its attitude toward students.

Sept. 16, 1856: First faculty meeting.

First faculty meeting held in Prof. Noyes' study. Present, President Foster, Professors Noyes and Godman. "Agreed in the absence of the President for the ensuing year, the duties of the faculty should be divided as follows: Professor Noyes to assume administration of discipline and to act as treasurer, Professor Godman to be secretary and librarian. Resolved, that a Bible class be formed and taught on the Sabbath day, Professor Noyes to teach it."

President Randolph Sinks Foster

Sept. 1881: Prof. John H. Long elected Professor of General Chemistry.

Professor John H. Long

Sept. 14, 1887: G. W. Hough becomes Professor of Astronomy and Director of Dearborn Observatory.

George Washington ("Jupiter") Hough becomes Professor of Astronomy and Director of Dearborn Observatory. The campus observatory, completed in 1889, became home to Hough's authoritative observations on the planet Jupiter and pioneering studies into light spectra. During his tenure Hough designed a dome for the observatory, allowing a full 360 degrees of rotation. (1887)

G. W. Hough

Sept. 1884: Alumni place portrait of Prof. Henry S. Noyes in the chapel.

Alumni place portrait of Prof. Henry S. Noyes in the chapel. Noyes was one of two original faculty members and during the Civil War led the school in tandem with the executive committee. He was said, during this period, to be a one-man administration: acting president, financial agent, treasurer of the faculty, secretary of the executive committee and professor of mathematics and Greek. (1884)

Henry Noyes

Sept. 1900: Dr. Daniel Bonbright becomes Acting President of the University.

Dr. Daniel Bonbright becomes Acting President of the University. Bonbright had been appointed to the faculty in 1856 as professor of Latin. He was instrumental in expanding Northwestern's library holdings and designed the University's official seal. He retired after 58 years of loyal service. (1900)

Dr. Daniel Bonbright

Sept. 11, 2001: Five alumni killed in attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Ted Hennesy, Kellog '93, was on board the second plane to crash into the World Trade Center. Melissa Doi, Weinberg '91, and Steven Glick, Weinberg '82 and Kellog '89, were in the north tower when it collapsed. Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Jude Murphy, Kellog '97, was in the Pentagon when it was hit. David Lee, Kellog '90, who worked in Two World Trade Center, was also later presumed dead.

Sept. 1899: Dr. U. S. Grant becomes Professor of Geology

Dr. Ulysses S. Grant becomes Professor of Geology; Miss Anna Bowen (NU 1894) named Dean of Women and Assistant Professor of English Literature. Dr. Grant was never President of the United States. (1899)

Dr. Ulysses Sherman Grant

Sept. 1891: Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller becomes Dean of Women.

Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller becomes Dean of Women. At the end of the year, in the spring of 1892, eighteen of Northwestern's fifty-six graduates are women. (1891)

Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller

Sept. 8, 1860: The Lady Elgin is wrecked near Grosse Point Reef. Northwestern and Garrett students, including Edward Spencer, assist in rescue efforts.

The steamer Lady Elgin is wrecked near the Grosse Point Reef. Northwestern and Garrett students assist in the rescue efforts. Edward W. Spencer, with a rope tied around him, goes out in to the lake and is credited with saving 17 lives. (1860)

The Lady Elgin

Sept. 1887: Dr. Herbert F. Fisk becomes Professor of Pedagogics.

Dr. Herbert F. Fisk becomes Professor of Pedagogics, E. H. Moore appears as Assistant Professor of Mathematics, and C. B. Atwell as Instructor in Natural History. Fisk would go on to become principal of Northwestern's Academy and organize the fundraising for the building that would later be named in his honor. (1887)

Dr. H. F. Fisk

Sept. 1886: Rev. Dr. R. D. Sheppard takes charge of the work in History and Political Economy.

Rev. Dr. R. D. Sheppard takes charge of the work in History and Political Economy. Sheppard's practice of economics was rather unorthodox. He left Evanston in disgrace some years later, charged with misappropriation of University funds. (1886)

Rev. Dr. R. D. Sheppard

Sept. 5, 1889: Illinois Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, honorary society, established.

Illinois Alpha chapter Charter (click to enlarge)
Chapter records held by Archives

Sept. 4, 1861: Annual charges: tuition, $45.00; incidentals, $6.00; library fee, $3.00. Price of board, including room rent, varies from $2.50 to $3.00.

Annual charges: tuition, $45.00; incidentals, $6.00; library fee, $3.00. Price of board, including room rent, varies from $2.50 to $3.00. Catalogue states: "Young men at College have very little need of pocket money, and parents having minor sons at the University are advised to entrust their funds to some member of the faculty who will attend to payment of their bills..., charging a commission of three per cent." (1861)

Sept. 3, 1862: Annual charge for tuition reduced to $39.00.

Annual charge for tuition reduced to $39.00. Enrollment had dropped precipitously the previous year with the onset of the Civil War. Examination of candidates for admission. Oliver Marcy, A. M., appears as Professor of Natural History and Physics. Alphonso C. Linn, A. B., appears as tutor in Mathematics and Latin. (1862)

Sept. 2, 1867: Faculty resolves College bell shall be rung only by janitor.

Faculty resolves College bell shall be rung only by janitor. The bell, located in NU's College Building, the only campus structure at the time, called students to classes chapel services. (1867)

Sept. 1, 1872: President Haven resigns. Bids farewell to students in chapel.

University President E. O. Haven