Since at least 1967, Portuguese students have been attending the University of Illinois. While early Portuguese student records are limited, for over a century the University community has offered a variety of Portuguese language instruction and programming.

Read on to learn about early Portuguese Illini!

Portuguese Cultures and Language on Campus

The first documented mention of Portuguese culture or people near campus might just be an advertisement for an off campus performance, at the Walker Theater, of the three-man-show “Portuguese Firemen” who came to town in 1913. Regardless, not soon long after, a Portuguese language instructor came to campus and over a century of University connections with Portuguese cultures would gradually grow.

Given expanding trade opportunities in Brazil, the University first offered Portuguese language classes in 1916. A full-time Romance Languages faculty member was hired during a busy year of doubled student enrollment in Spanish too. Mr. Louis Philip Costa, (Assistant Professor of Romance Languages 1916-1917), of Lisbon, began teaching in the Fall 1916 term. [1] The early outreach efforts included writing in student publications and attending student organization events to speak about the value of Portuguese Language study. In 1916, Professor Costa wrote a Daily Illini editorial to invite students to enroll in the program to learn about the “venerable” language spoken “in Portugal, its dominions, and Brazil”. He was also a guest speaker for the Catholic students on campus and he spoke about his studies across Europe. However, no students enrolled in the fall term and the spring term was cancelled, wrote Professor McKenzie in a Daily Illini editorial. By the late spring term, Mr. Costa was recruited by another school.

Following Mr. Costa’s resignation, the Portuguese program was not continued for the 1917 school year; however, students volunteered to promote and to teach in the interim of the return of Portuguese. As quickly as the Fall 1917 term, through the Y.M.C.A., Brazilian students E. A. Teixeira and J. C. Do Souza co-taught Portuguese off campus for free. Even Latin American Club offered opportunities for students to communicate in both Portuguese and Spanish. Given Mr. Costa’s stated intention for the Portuguese Language program and later Daily Illini editorials emphasizing pan-American cultural and economic ties, study of Portuguese might have been oriented towards the study of Brazilian Portuguese from its inception.

In tandem with the growth of the Romance Languages Department, a Portuguese library collection was developed. As early as 1916, great acquisitions of Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish library materials were acquired. By 1947, with the Portuguese Language becoming a mainstay of the campus, the “Daily Scout” column of The Daily Illini printed a series of jokes in commonly spoken foreign languages including German and Portuguese.

So, it was 1941 when Portuguese language courses were offered again and a full program would soon follow. [2] At the same time, multiple Daily Illini articles advocated for increased regional studies of the Americas including foreign language study. In April 1942, one Daily Illini editor described the 1940s as a period of growing economic opportunities for the Americas. In particular, the editor cited the growth in Spanish and Portuguese language courses across the country, the English language songs celebrating American cultures, and the increased regional trade. In September 1942, in response to the announcement of Russian language courses, a Daily Illini editorial argued for the addition of Japanese and Portuguese language courses. In 1956, a graduate program was approved. Then in 1962, the Department of Spanish and Italian was renamed the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. The Portuguese program would continue to develop and grow in time, beginning as early as 1975, with a current campus tradition of “bate papo” Portuguese chat hours which were first established at the cultural house La Casa.

Alumni

Mr. Christopher B. Watrous, (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 1905), of Hampshire, Illinois, for the allied Construction Machine Corporation in Barcelona, Spain, after graduation.  [3] Mr. Watrous’ career included working in Portugal and North Africa.

Ms. Florence A. Olson Stallings, (A. B. Literature and Arts, 1912), of Weldon, Illinois, married fellow Illini Mr. William Henry Stallings, (A.M. Classics, 1911) of Alhambra, Illinois and their careers took them to Coimbra, Portugal. [4] In 1917, Mr. Stallings entered the International Committee of the Y.M.C.A. and became the Student Secretary of the New University Y.M.C.A. in Coimbra.

Faculty

In 1914, University Library Theresa Hitchler (Record Series 35/1/35) toured Portugal, Algiers, Italy, France, and England, with the American Library Association.

Students

At this time, records of Portuguese students could not be identified yet. From at least 1967 until present, Portuguese students have been attending the University of Illinois. [5] And since the 1980s, Portuguese student enrollment has gradually increased.

Student Organizations

In 1953, Portuguese Club was formed by students learning Portuguese. For at least three years, Portuguese Club met on campus to discuss cultures connected with the Portuguese Language. Meetings included a discussion of Rio de Janeiro with a color photograph slideshow, Carnival, an Anthropology Professor Ben Zimmerman talk about legends and history of Northeast Brazil, a talk “A Trip Through Portugal” by Professors Fred P. Ellison and Joseph H. Allen, and “Progress of Agriculture in Brazil” by Botany graduate student Jose de Theofilo do Amaral Gurgel.

Are you an Portuguese Illini? Do you know someone who is? We’d like to hear from you! Please send us a message or leave a comment below. We want to include you and your story, as we celebrate the first 150 years of the University of Illinois.

Happy First 150 everyone!

References

[1] “Louis Philip Costa”, The Semi-Centennial Alumni Record of the University of Illinois, Edited by Franklin W. Scott, page 858.

[2] “Clarification of References to Graduate Programs in Portuguese, Urbana”, Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, April 20, 1966, page 1123-1124, Record Series 1/1/802.

[3] “Christopher B. Watrous”, The Semi-Centennial Alumni Record of the University of Illinois, Edited by Franklin W. Scott, page 239.

[4] “Florence Armina Olson Stallings”, page 469; “William Henry Stallings”, page 810.

[5] “UIUC Student Enrollment“, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Management Information.