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Category: Found in the Archives

Allerton Park and Retreat Center

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'The Death of the Last Centaur,' 2014
‘The Death of the Last Centaur,’ 2014

Written by Caitlin E. Crane

Some 30 miles to the southwest of the University of Illinois lies approximately 6,000 acres of farmland and prairies; of formal gardens and statues. The site is known as Allerton Park and Retreat Center, and is the former estate of Robert Allerton, a multimillionaire who donated the Park to the University of Illinois in 1946. The gift, which more than doubled the University’s land holdings at the time, lies 5 miles to south of Monticello, IL [1]. Today, Allerton Park and Retreat Center, otherwise simply called ‘Allerton’, has evolved into a site which is used by the University for conferences, retreats, and educational purposes.  The University Archives holds multiple collections related to Allerton, including but not limited to, the Allerton Family Collection (R.S. 31/13/20); the Allerton Park Collection (R.S. 31/13/5); and the Robert Allerton Park Brochures and Newsletters (R.S. 31/13/805)

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The Spurlock Museum

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Written by Leanna Barcelona

For many students and surrounding community members, the University’s William R. and Clarice V. Spurlock Museum remains a hidden gem on campus. While the museum promotes learning about history and cultures all over the world, it in itself has quite a rich history at the university.

Armored Figures in the European Museum in Lincoln Hall, 1914. Found in Record Series 39/2/22.
Armored Figures in the European Museum in Lincoln Hall, 1914. Found in Record Series 39/2/22.

Prior to existing next to the Krannert Performing Arts Center, the museum resided on the fourth floor of Lincoln Hall from 1911 to 1998 as three separate museums; the Classical Museum, the European Cultures Museum, and the Oriental and Archaeology Museum. Over the years, the museums were merged together and renamed several times, eventually becoming one unified museum known as the World Heritage Museum in the 1970s. William and Clarice Spurlock made a generous donation in 1990 that allowed the museum to expand and relocate to a new facility. The moving process began in 1998 and the brand new World Heritage Museum opened in 2002 with a new name as well; the Spurlock Museum. [1]

With the new building and new name also came new museum philosophy changes . In a 1997 memo sent to museum staff regarding new exhibit guidelines, Sarah Wissemen said:

“The Spurlock Museum of World Cultures is a cultural-historical museum, not an art museum. Our emphasis is on the story behind the object (how it was made, how it functioned, who made it, how it reveals religious, social, or other themes) and how objects and processes change over time.” [2]

These guidelines remain true today, with artifacts on display from all over the world, each telling a story about varying spaces and time.

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Fight, Illini! The Stadium Song

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Cover for the sheet music to "Fight, Illini!" 1921
Cover for the sheet music to “Fight, Illini!” 1921

Written by Denise Rayman

The University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium turned 90 years old last year, as it was officially dedicated in 1924, but planning and fundraising to build the stadium began long before that. The Memorial Stadium was intended as both an athletic field and memorial to the fallen soldiers of WWI, whose names are inscribed on the columns around the stadium, and it was built through the donations of UIUC students, alumni, and others, including corporate donors from Illinois. While both the need for a new athletic facility and a desire for a campus WWI memorial had been recognized before, in December 1920 the students voted to combine plans for a war memorial and new athletic field into one project [1]. The fundraising campaign to build Memorial Stadium started shortly thereafter. Fundraising efforts took different forms, but one particularly unique fundraising push was a song contest, the winning song then used to raise money through sheet music sales, and this resulted a newly composed Illini fight song – “Fight, Illini! The Stadium Song.” Continue reading “Fight, Illini! The Stadium Song” →

Hillel: The International Jewish Organization Founded in Champaign

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Written by Anna Trammell

The Hillel Foundation, the largest Jewish student organization in the world, traces its beginnings to the University of Illinois. In 1921, the young Rabbi Benjamin Frankel began serving in Champaign’s Temple Sinai. [1] Meeting the Jewish students on campus, he observed that they were “passively Jewish” [2] without the proper support and community available to allow their Jewish identity to strengthen during their years of study. “He realized they were without Jewish influence in the most formative years of their lives. He felt that they would go out to lead in their various communities with little thought of their Jewishness and their Judaism,” Rabbi Alfred M. Cohen wrote of Frankel.[3] Continue reading “Hillel: The International Jewish Organization Founded in Champaign” →

Black Greek Letter Association, Fostering Social Spaces

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Written by Nick Hopkins

African-American students at Illinois have been a statistical minority since the early days of the University. Black students constituted a small fraction of the student population, but contribute a distinct diversity of culture and ideas to the campus community. The Black Greek Letter Association (BGLA), a council of African American fraternities and sororities, is a memorable example of student life and culture on campus. Registered as student organization on December 2, 1972, the BGLA’s mission statement was “To promote black greek unity of organization” and “To improve the quality of social life on the U of I campus.”[1] While the organization did not always see eye-to-eye with various sections of the University, it has certainly accomplished its mission of nurturing a space for greek activities on campus for African American students. Its offspring, the Black Greek Council, exists today as an important section UIUC’s greek social scene. Continue reading “Black Greek Letter Association, Fostering Social Spaces” →