From left to right, the Law Building (Harker Hall), University Hall, and the Carillon Tower of the Altgeld Hall Library Building, found in Record Series 39/2/20, Box BUI – University Hall.
The turn of the century Illinois campus featured three towers along Green Street (seen above). While Altgeld Hall remains today, its two-towered peer building is gone. On Wednesday, September 13, 1871 the cornerstone was laid for the new multiple purpose University building later known as “University Hall”. The formal dedication was Wednesday, December 10, 1873, and Illinois Governor J.L. Beveridge gave the address. For seventy-six years, University Hall served most of the University population. Today, the Illini Union stands on University Hall’s former site, and all that physically remains is the bell, the clock, and the sandstone portal entrance (now, since 1998, at the Hallene Gateway Plaza).
The Division of Rehabilitation-Education Services (DRES) records have been made available due to the generous support of B. Joseph White and the President’s office. DRES records were processed and selectively digitized for online exhibition in 2008-2009.
Archer Sue Hagel
The Gizz Kids program was created in 1948 by Timothy Nugent and was run by the service fraternity Delta Sigma Omicron as a program of sports available to student-athletes with disabilities. The intention of the program mirrors that of DRES: to offer students with disabilities the ability to fully experience college and all of its many opportunities, athletics included. The Gizz Kids program grew to include a number of sports, including football, basketball, baseball, track and field, fencing, archery, cheerleading, and square dancing for students in wheelchairs. The program also included bowling for the blind and adaptive swimming.
Timothy Nugent coaches players during a 1955 game
The Gizz Kids program was an important one for both students in the Rehabilitation-Education program and the general public. The fierce competition that one expects in college athletics was retained in each of the adapted Gizz Kids sports; the program became an important tool in educating the public. The program showed the general public the strength, skill, and abilities of athletes with disabilities and motivated other students and younger people with disabilities. To mirror traditional basketball, the wheelchair basketball organization followed NCAA regulations exactly, excepting three modifications [1]. Continue reading “The Gizz Kids: Athletics for Students with Disabilities”→
This month commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which ensures and protects the civil rights of people with physical and mental disabilities. In honor of this important legislation, we are celebrating the work of Illinois’s Disabilities Rehabilition-Education Services (DRES). The records that the U of I Archives holds on DRES and its work was processed and selectively digitized in 2008-2009, thanks to funding from the University of Illinois President’s office and support from B. Joseph White.
Timothy Nugent with Robert Ebert in 1995. RS 16/6/20.
DRES, a groundbreaking institution that provides resources, therapies, and advocacy for students with disabilities, was founded by Timothy Nugent, an internationally recognized professor, lecturer, and advocate for disability resources and scholarship.[1]
DRES transformed the community of Champaign-Urbana; the accommodations made and supported by DRES allowed students with disabilities to participate as full members of the University—in classes, student groups, and athletics—benefiting both the whole student body and the University. [2]
A student receiving physical therapy
The journey to bring DRES to campus began in 1947, as many veterans with disabilities were returning from World War II. A deputy commander of the American Legion wrote to U of I President George Stoddard. DRES was founded at the University of Illinois Galesburg campus, which opened to support the influx of veterans coming to campus under the GI Bill. Previously a hospital, the facilities at Galesburg were suited to DRES’s needs. At the Galesburg campus, students’ therapies included bowling, swimming, and basketball. [3] Continue reading “The Founding of Disability Resources at the U of I”→
“Through the shady Arboretum,/ By the Balm of Gilead tree,/ gently flows the Bone-yard/On its journey to the sea./ In the summer, little violets/ ‘Midst the greenest mosses bloom,/ And their sweetest fragrance mingles/ With the Bone-yard’s own perfume.“[1]
Postcard from RS 41/20/73. The note on the reverse reads: “Where all freshman [sic] are in danger of being dumped.”From the 1908 Illio, p. 539. Caption reads: “Life on the ocean wave or crossing the Boneyard during the recent flood”
While there are many aspects of life as a U of I student that have remained the same throughout the years, one of the things that has changed is the symbolism and importance of Boneyard Creek. Fraternity battles! Student antics! Accidental explosions! Boneyard Creek has been home to it all.
For students of the past, Boneyard Creek was one of the most recognizable aspects of life in Champaign-Urbana. In fact, almost every Illio yearbook through the early 1920s featured some mention of the Boneyard. A student on campus in 1907 described the creek as “the most famous place here.” [2] Continue reading “Campus Memories: Boneyard Creek”→
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 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 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”→
![Postcard from RS 41/20/73.<br /> The note on the reverse reads: "Where all freshman [<em>sic</em>] are in danger of being dumped."](/slc/wp-content/uploads/sites/73/2015/07/socials081.jpg)
