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Category: Found in the Archives

Thanksgiving at the University

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Written by Leanna Barcelona

As Thanksgiving approaches, the Archives brings a historical perspective to this holiday that is often forgotten during the hustle and bustle of modern life. Unlike previous generations, current students can appreciate their full week of break at home while past students could not even leave campus for the holiday.

Thanksgiving postcard, undated. Found in record series 39/2/28
Thanksgiving postcard, undated. Found in record series 39/2/28

Over the years, faculty and staff made an effort to provide students with an enjoyable holiday. In 1880, the Illini reported, “Several of the professors on Thanksgiving Day opened their houses to parties of students and bestowed hospitality in bountiful store upon them.”[1] Over 100 years later in 1982, Mr. Kennedy Kincaid and his family offered to host several international students for Thanksgiving vacation through the YMCA. The University YMCA Cosmopolitan Club also annually hosts a Thanksgiving Dinner. In 1987, the dinner benefited Refugees Assistance in Champaign-Urbana and in 2003 the proceeds assisted the Even Star Program administered by Urbana Adult Education.

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Champaign County On Film

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Written by Angela Jordan

Champaign County On Film, the second event in the Town & Gown Speaker Series, will be held in the Lewis Auditorium at Urbana Free Library, Wednesday, October 15, at 7pm. The Champaign County Historical Archives and the Student Life & Culture Archives will present an evening devoted to the changes of Champaign County from the 1920s through the twenty-first century as captured by the film lens. Continue reading “Champaign County On Film” →

School of Military Aeronautics, 1917-18

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Written by Angela Jordan

The last of four posts written for “WWI and Champaign County” of the Town & Gown Speaker Series, a collaboration between the Student Life & Culture Archives and the Champaign County Historical Archives.

Research for this post contributed by Maggie Cornelius.

Besides ROTC and SATC, the Department of War instituted another military training program at the University of Illinois during World War I. The School of Military Aeronautics (SMA) was not a permanent addition to the University, but its activities preoccupied the campus during the latter years of the Great War.

School of Military Aeronautics instructors, fall 1917. In March 1917, the Daily Illini reported on this development: “The aviation section of the military department of the United States has become active during the present crisis and is desirous of interested students at all the universities in aviation.”[1] To meet the nation’s need for pilots in time of war, the federal government commissioned six U.S. universities to open aviation schools. Illinois was the first American university to offer its facilities and resources to the government to aid the war effort.[2] Continue reading “School of Military Aeronautics, 1917-18” →

Student Military Training and the Great War

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Written by Angela Jordan

The third of four posts written for “WWI and Champaign County” of the Town & Gown Speaker Series, a collaboration between the Student Life & Culture Archives and the Champaign County Historical Archives.

Research for this post contributed by Maggie Cornelius.

America’s entry into World War I required the mobilization of the country’s brightest minds and ablest bodies for military training and leadership. The War Department looked to American universities to recruit capable men for its military departments. These recruitment efforts prompted the establishment of two prominent military organizations at the University of Illinois, both of which served as the foundation for the current Illini Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.Cadet George Wellington Rider, 1915

Prior to ROTC, the 1862 Morrill Act obligated land-grant universities to instruct its male students in “military tactics.”[1] Anticipating the American entrance into the war, the National Defense Act of 1916 established the ROTC as part of its reorganization of the American military. Illinois created its ROTC chapter in 1917 and fundamentally changed how the University fulfilled its Morrill Act obligation. ROTC’s primary purpose was to train and enroll men into the Reserved Officers’ Corps who were qualified to be “captains or lieutenants of volunteer organizations in times of war.”[2] In its early days, ROTC was divided into seven units: medical corps, signal corps, engineers, cavalry, field artillery, coast artillery, and infantry.[3] Continue reading “Student Military Training and the Great War” →

The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns

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Written by Angela Jordan

The second of four posts written for “WWI and Champaign County” of the Town & Gown Speaker Series, a collaboration between the Student Life & Culture Archives and the Champaign County Historical Archives.

Research for this post contributed by Maggie Cornelius.

The United States government asked Americans to knit socks, sweaters, and other garments for soldiers during World War I. Most of this knitting was produced by volunteers working under the auspices of the American Red Cross. Illini women, like many women during the war, devoted their free time and money to contribute necessities and luxuries to the war effort. The former provided subsistence and the latter provided morale. Continue reading “The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns” →