On this Day in NU History
June 2009 Archives
June 30, 2009
June 30, 1859: Northwestern's first commencement takes place. T.E. Annis, W.E. Clifford, S.L. Eastman, H.M. Kidder, and E.J. Searle are the five graduates of the first class.
June 29, 2009
June 29, 2006: Northwestern Football Coach Randy Walker dies of a heart attack at the age of 52. On July 7, 2006, Pat Fitzgerald is named as his replacement. Walker led the team to 3 bowl game appearances and a conference championship in 2000.
June 28, 2009
June 28, 1946: Retired professor A.L Brown, former head of the English department, is killed when his bicycle collides with an automobile.
June 27, 2009
June 27, 1936: Professor Clarion DeWitt Hardy, who taught public speaking and debate, dies today at the age of 58. Aside from his service at NU, Hardy was an influential community leader in Evanston.
June 26, 2009
June 26, 1946: President Franklin Bliss Snyder announces an increase in salary for 500 university professor at an average of roughly 10%.
June 25, 2009
June 25, 1874: At Northwestern's 16th commencement, Sarah R. Roland becomes the first female graduate of the university.
June 24, 2009
June 24, 1964: An artificial lung designed by doctors Bruce R. Bodell, James M. Head, and Louis R. head of the Northwestern Medical School, is developed and presented to the public.
June 23, 2009
June 22, 2009
June 22, 1968: Northwestern runner Ralph Schultz is named to the NCAA All-American track team. That year, he finished third in the NCAA 800-meter run.
June 21, 2009
June 21, 1888: Dedication of Northwestern's Dearborn Observatory takes place.
For more about the history of the Dearborn Observatory--which has been moved twice--see http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/architecture/building.php?bid=5.
The Dearborn Observatory is open for stargazing every Friday night. For more details, see http://www.astro.northwestern.edu/observatory.php
June 20, 2009
June 20, 1945: Northwestern President Franklin Bliss Snyder, Andrew C. Ivy of the Medical School psychology department, and Medical School dean George H. Gardner are issued warrants for inhumane treatment of dogs. All charges were later dismissed.
June 19, 2009
June 19, 1928: Northwestern president Walter Dill Scott cancels plans to visit and evaluate Russian colleges and schools after it was implied that he was expected to provide public praise of the Russian schooling.
June 18, 2009
June 18, 1902: The presentation of a fountain placed south of University Hall, a class gift from that year's graduate class, takes place. This fountain would freeze in the 1930's, and would later become what is now known as The Rock.
For more of The rock's history, see http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/architecture/building.php?bid=25
June 17, 2009
June 17, 1890: The Board of Trustees adopts as the official University motto the Latin phrase, Quaecumque Sunt Vera (Whatsoever Things Are True)
The motto was derived from the New Testament Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 8, in which Paul admonished his Christian followers in the Greek (Macedonian) city of Philippi: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” For the full history of the motto, see http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/university_seal.pdf
June 16, 2009
June 16, 1927: Dedication ceremonies for the Chicago campus' Levy Mayer Hall are conducted. The ceremonies featured a tour of the newly constructed building, and alumni luncheon, and a formal reception.
June 15, 2009
June 15, 1893: Theodore Roosevelt (US Civil Service Commissioner) gives Commencement address at the Auditorium Theatre and is awarded his first honorary degree.
June 14, 2009
June 14, 1851: John Evans is chosen as the first president of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University.
June 13, 2009
June 13, 1895: At the 33rd Commencement, the tradition at Northwestern of graduating students wearing caps and gowns for the ceremony is inaugurated.
June 12, 2009
June 12, 1926: One thousand alumni attend the ground-breaking ceremony marking the beginning of the construction of 14 new sorority houses.
June 11, 2009
June 11, 1964: The university receives nearly $500,000 in grant money to construct the Lindheimer Observatory on Northwestern's newly built lakefill campus.
June 10, 2009
June 9, 2009
June 9, 1971: Northwestern President Robert Strotz states his opposition to the use of undercover campus police intelligence agents in the wake of rising conflicts related to student activism.
June 8, 2009
June 8, 1970: K.V. Zweiner is elected to the position of President of the Northwestern Board of Trustees.
June 7, 2009
June 7, 1954: The Northwestern chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity was indefinitely banned due to a suspected drunk driving accident.
June 6, 2009
June 6, 1962: Northwestern University receives a $100,000 grant from the United States public health service for the establishment of environmental engineering laboratory facilities.
June 5, 2009
June 4, 2009
June 4, 1970: One Northwestern student is suspended and nine are placed on probation as consequence for a disturbance held at the ROTC offices in Lunt Hall on May 14.
June 3, 2009
June 3, 1892: The University Guild was founded at a meeting of 11 women in the home of Emma W. Rogers, wife of Northwestern University President Henry Wade Rogers (1890-1900).
The Guild’s purposes, as stated in its Constitution, were: “To bring to the membership the intellectual resources of the University. To promote the interests of the University. To work for the collection and exhibition of objects of art. To advance the development and appreciation of the fine arts in the University and in Evanston.”
