Brief History of the University of Illinois
My first meaty post will be in honor of our founding archivist Maynard Brichford. The text below was written by Maynard in 1970 and was revised on June 1, 1983. The figures cited are valid as of...
View ArticleWorld War I Memorial and Fountain
With the long-deferred plans for the renovation of Lincoln Hall finally coming to fruition, attention has turned to some of the finer points of this landmark structure. Among the lesser known aspects...
View ArticleHistory of the University Name
By William J. Maher and Bryan Whitledge August, 2011 Illinois Industrial University and the Change to the University of Illinois The University of Illinois began in 1867 as the Illinois Industrial...
View ArticleFighting Illini Name
Over the years, staff at the University of Illinois Archives have answered numerous questions regarding the origin of the terms “Illini” and “Fighting Illini.” This post answers some of the most...
View ArticleKu Klux Klan
The information in this document was originally researched and written by the University Archives staff in 2004 to bring together all available sources in the Archives that shed light on the question...
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History of the Engineering Open House
“Engineers, as all citizens, have a stake in the future,” Dean Daniel Drucker wrote in his welcome letter for the 1975 Engineering Open House.[1] Echoing this sentiment a year later, he noted the...
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Campus Mythbusting: Is there a bulldozer buried beneath Memorial Stadium?
A few weeks ago, the University Archives received a request from the Champaign News-Gazette regarding an oft-repeated claim about Memorial Stadium. The claim states: “During the construction a...
View ArticleWhy can’t I find archival material on Google?
Recently the Archives received a question from a student who wanted to know: why aren’t archival records searchable with Google? Is there any way to make Google show archival results? While on the...
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