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Category: Women

New in the Archives: The Scrapbooks of Miriam Backs

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Miriam Backs in 1950
Miriam Backs in 1950

Marissa Krein is a graduate student at the School of Information Science. She is currently completing a practicum at the Student Life and Culture Archives. 

Souvenirs from nights out in Champaign-Urbana

The Student Life and Culture Archives recently received four scrapbooks from the family of Miriam Backs chronicling her years as a student at the University of Illinois.

Miriam Carolyn Backs was born on November 30, 1928, in Nashville, Illinois. Her father, Gus H. Backs, was the owner and manager of Backs Department Store and her mother was a homemaker. Miriam grew up in the small southern Illinois town and graduated from Nashville Community High School in 1946. She chose to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and enrolled in the freshmen class of 1946. Mirroring her family’s business background, she majored in accounting at the College of Commerce and Business Administration (now College of Business). Her scrapbooks chronicle her four years at the university and are full of memorabilia highlighting her involvement on campus and her active social life as well as her various summer vacations through the South and Midwest. Continue reading “New in the Archives: The Scrapbooks of Miriam Backs” →

The National Women’s Music Festival

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National Women's Music Festival program
National Women’s Music Festival program

Written by Anna Trammell

In 1974, a group of women at the University of Illinois had an ambitious plan. Led by graduate student Kristin Lems, they aimed to host a week-long music festival highlighting female artists that would draw musicians and attendees from all over the country. “Nothing like this has ever been done before,” said Lems in a Daily Illini article. “Women have been taught that they must compete with other women and go it alone.”[1] Lems and other organizers sought to create an environment that was supportive of female artists and encouraged conversation about how to operate within or outside of a music industry they felt imposed restrictions and stereotypes on women. Bolstered by the success of the local women’s music scene, students and community members worked hard to attract women with national name recognition and to draw crowds to Champaign-Urbana. Continue reading “The National Women’s Music Festival” →

Behind the Names: Residence Halls Named After Women

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Thomas Hendrickson is an undergraduate in history at the University of Illinois and an Undergraduate Assistant at the Archives Research Center.

A total of ten residence halls are named after women who have had a profound impact on the University of Illinois.

Allen Hall
Allen Hall

Allen Hall is named after Louisa C. Allen (1848-1920). She was only 22 years old when she was hired at the University and given the major tasks of overseeing female education and developing instruction in domestic science for women. Despite little institutional support and with no precedent upon which to model such a program, Allen offered a full new course of study during the 1875-1876 academic year. Her early work helped make higher education more obtainable for women. [1] Continue reading “Behind the Names: Residence Halls Named After Women” →