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Campus Memories: Taking a Stroll Down Lovers’ Lane

Written by Caitlin Stamm

Now that it is officially summer and campus has emptied out, it’s a perfect time to take a wander down memory lane. There’s no better place to start than by exploring Lovers’ Lane!

Cover of <em>The Siren</em>, October 1911
Cover of The Siren, October 1911

Lovers’ Lane was located on Daniel Street and Champaign, between Fourth Street and Wright Street [1], next to the Kappa Alpha Theta house. For decades, it was a spot close to campus where couples would gather to take walks.

From <em>The Siren</em>, November 1921
From The Siren, November 1921

Lovers’ Lane was even featured on the October 1911 cover of The Siren. It’s no wonder the lane, and its proximity to sorority houses, was profiled; The Siren’s editor lived on Daniel Street in the Beta Theta Pi house [2].

As the University replaced brick walkways with cement, a Champaign City ordinance necessitated the removal of the great trees to create a sidewalk [3]. A 1915 Daily Illini article notes, “The sentiment of the majority of people living along the street seems to be in-favor of making the new walk narrower so that the long, shaded lane may be spared to future generations of strolling lovers” [4]. This, however, was not to be the case. The trees were condemned after the fall of 1915 and all had been removed by 1926 [5]. Continue reading “Campus Memories: Taking a Stroll Down Lovers’ Lane”

Full-Time Football Coach to Probate Judge: Arthur Hall and his Artifacts

Cleats from the Arthur Hall Collection after visiting Conservation. Found in Record Series 28/3/24.
Cleats from the Arthur Hall Collection after visiting Conservation. Found in Record Series 28/3/24.

Written by Leanna Barcelona

After a semester at the University’s Conservation unit, the artifacts donated with the personal papers of the Illinois football coach Arthur Hall are now back at the archives and a part of his collection. The collection donated from his family contains several newspaper clippings spanning from the beginning of his football career to the end of his term as probate judge. Artifacts such as team sweaters, football uniforms, cleats, hats, and baseballs from his time here, as well as small Illini memorabilia, are also part of the collection and over a century old.

Postcard of Coach Hall, c. 1907. Found in Record Series 28/3/24.
Postcard of Coach Hall, c. 1907. Found in Record Series 28/3/24.

Arthur Raymond Hall was born in 1869 in Tonica Illinois and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1897-1902, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and a Master’s Degree of English and Rhetoric from the College of Literature and Arts. As a student, he played on the Varsity baseball team in 1899 and the Varsity football team from 1897 through 1900, serving as the captain in his last season. In addition to varsity athletics, Hall was involved in the English Club, the Langdell Law Club, the Y.M.C.A., and the Philomathean Literary Society.[1]

Continue reading “Full-Time Football Coach to Probate Judge: Arthur Hall and his Artifacts”

One Hundred Years to Commencement: The 1915 Graduation at Illinois

Written by Caitlin E. Crane

One hundred years ago, the University of Illinois graduating class of 1915 prepared to receive their diplomas at the 44th annual Commencement ceremony. While the class of 2015 will throw their caps at Memorial Stadium, the 1915 commencement ceremony took place in the Armory, with further formalities held on the Main Quad [1].

Commencement procession at the Armory, 1915. Retrieved from R.S. 39/2/22
Commencement procession at the Armory, 1915. Retrieved from R.S. 39/2/22
Commencement ceremonies on the Quad, c. 1915. Retrieved from R.S. 39/2/22
Commencement ceremonies on the Quad, c. 1915. Retrieved from R.S. 39/2/22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The May Fête at the U of I

Alpha Xi Delta Stunt Show performers, 1910
Alpha Xi Delta Stunt Show performers, 1910

Written by Caitlin Stamm

Each year, people around the world celebrate May Day and the arrival of spring. At the University of Illinois, this celebration took the form of the May Fête, a mid-month celebration with a maypole dance and pageant.  Celebratory May activities held at the University began in 1899, although activities like Field Day began earlier, in 1883.[1] Later, the May Fête became a central part of the University Interscholastic, a multi-day event with popular sporting events and field days featuring the U of I athletes and teams from area high schools, a circus  featuring the various student groups on campus, open-air concerts, operas and dramatic performances, a parade, and general merriment.

Continue reading “The May Fête at the U of I”