The Old University of Chicago was the legal name given in 1890 to the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
's first incorporation.
The school, founded in 1856 by
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
church leaders, was originally called the "University of Chicago" (or, interchangeably, "Chicago University"). After years of financial struggle, the university's campus was badly damaged by fire, the school was foreclosed on by its creditors, its classes ceased in 1886, and it no longer admitted students. Rather than try to continue operations, its trustees decided in 1890 to change the school's name to the "Old University of Chicago" and allow the establishment of a new legal entity that would once again be called the "University of Chicago".
Both the
Northwestern University School of Law
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law s ...
and the
University of Chicago Divinity School
The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...
began as departments of the Old University. While the present-day
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, which was established in 1890, is a separate legal entity and in a different location, it recognized Old University of Chicago alumni as its own and maintained a number of other continuities from its pre-1890 origins.
History
The land upon which the Old University of Chicago was established was originally part of a lakefront tract owned by Senator
Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas had offered the plot, worth $50,000 and located at Cottage Grove Avenue and Thirty-Fifth Street, to the Presbyterian Church for a seminary. When the church group failed to raise the $100,000 Douglas set as a precondition of his donation, he offered the site to a group of Baptists, who accepted. Douglas was not particularly religious but an avid promoter of Chicago; critics accused him of trying to boost the value of his adjoining lots.
The school's 1856 charter required that most of the members of the Board of Trustees be of the Baptist faith. The school made no such restrictions on either faculty or students. Despite the title of university, in the early years, the tenor of the instruction was primarily collegiate and vocational in nature. Two hundred to five hundred students enrolled annually in preparatory, collegiate, law, and medical schools.
The new institution began almost immediately to encounter financial difficulties. Fundraising was hurt by Douglas' support for the
Kansas–Nebraska Act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law by ...
, which was regarded by many northern Baptists and other abolitionists as a betrayal,
["Controversy", ''Integrating the Life of the Mind: African Americans at the University of Chicago 1870-1940''](_blank)
Exhibit September 2008 - February 2009, University of Chicago Library, web exhibit 2009, accessed 23 September 2013 while the financial
Panic of 1857 drained the finances of many of the principal investors, rendering most of their initial subscriptions worthless.
The trustees proceeded with plans to build the university, including construction projects that were beyond the school's means because of the volatility of the market. With the university's debt mounting rapidly, President
John C. Burroughs and the trustees sold a second wave of subscriptions. Key to this effort was
James Hutchinson Woodworth, a former Chicago mayor who was also president of the Treasury Bank of Chicago. Woodworth served as a university trustee from 1857 to 1869, as well as treasurer for some time.
Burroughs, who remained in office longer than any of his five successors, established in 1859 the university's Law Department, the city's first law school. In 1870,
Ada Kepley
Ada Harriet Miser Kepley (February 11, 1847 – June 13, 1925) was the first American woman to graduate from law school. She graduated in 1870 with a law degree, from what is today Northwestern University School of Law. At that time, she was pro ...
and
Richard A. Dawson
Richard A. Dawson (1848 - 1906) was a lawyer and state legislator in Arkansas. He was born in Virginia and his father was a minister. Dawson studied at Oberlin College, and received his law degree from the Old University of Chicago. Dawson practic ...
received bachelor of law degrees, likely the first woman and first African American, respectively, to receive degrees from the institution. In 1872, the faculty voted to allow the awarding of degrees to women
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
students.
["Advocacy"](_blank)
''Integrating the Life of the Mind'', 2009 Alice Robinson Boise Wood
Alice Robinson Boise Wood (May 15, 1846 – March 28, 1919) was a classicist and poet, and the first woman both to attend classes at the University of Michigan and to matriculate and graduate from the Old University of Chicago.
Early life
Ali ...
became the first woman to graduate from the university with a B.A. in Classics in 1872. In 1873, the Law School became jointly associated with
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, as the ''Union College of Law'' and when the Old University of Chicago folded, today's
Northwestern University School of Law
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law s ...
. Baptist ministers and lay leaders had gathered in 1856 to organize a university for collegiate and theological education, and Baptists again gathered in 1863 as a separate Baptist Theological Union when theological instruction had not been addressed in the university, forming the Baptist Theological Union Seminary, which existed from 1867 to 1877 alongside the university. In 1877 the seminary moved to Morgan Park, IL. In the 1890s, this seminary became the
University of Chicago Divinity School
The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...
.
The university's finances deteriorated rapidly after Woodworth died in 1869. It was rocked by the huge costs of the
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...
of 1871, and the
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the ...
decreased donations. In 1874, a fire damaged the university's main physical plant.
Meanwhile, disagreements in the Board of Trustees flared up over fundraising, financial management, and faculty appointments, escalating into open conflict. Burroughs and his most vocal opponent, trustee
W. W. Everts, left the board. To keep Burroughs affiliated with the university, the trustees created the post of chancellor and appointed him responsible for the school's financial affairs. But the new president and Chancellor Burroughs were quickly at odds. Other administrators were hired and departed in rapid succession; by 1886, six presidents had served the university.
The university's fifth president,
Galusha Anderson
Galusha Anderson (March 7, 1832 – July 20, 1918) was an American theologian and university president.
Biography
Anderson was born at Bergen, Genesee County, New York. His father was of Scotch descent and a strict Presbyterian. At a young ag ...
, appealed to philanthropists
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
and
Leland Stanford, but was unable to secure substantial donations.
Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, the university's chief creditor, brought suit in 1881 to foreclose the mortgage on the university's property. Anderson argued to keep the school open, but in January 1885 the court found for Union Mutual.
["Myth of Openness"](_blank)
''Integrating the Life of the Mind'' (2009), accessed 23 September 2013 The university closed in autumn 1886, and the main building was razed in 1890.
At the final meeting of its board of trustees in 1890, the group officially changed the name of the institution to the Old University of Chicago. This was to enable a new Rockefeller-financed Baptist school, then being organized, to have a completely separate legal entity and take the title of the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
.
A stone from the old school's building in Bronzeville, which was destroyed by fire, was preserved on the present school's main
quadrangle, where it was set into the wall of the arch between the Classics building and Wieboldt Hall. The stone was removed from the wall and archived by the university in July 2020 in response to concerns regarding the old Douglas Hall benefactor's association with slavery.
Notable graduates
*
Richard A. Dawson
Richard A. Dawson (1848 - 1906) was a lawyer and state legislator in Arkansas. He was born in Virginia and his father was a minister. Dawson studied at Oberlin College, and received his law degree from the Old University of Chicago. Dawson practic ...
, second African American to be admitted to the practice of law in Illinois, and Arkansas state senator.
*
Charles Richmond Henderson, minister and sociologist, taught at Univ. of Chicago
*
Thomas W. Hyde, Union general and founder of
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest ...
*
Ada Kepley
Ada Harriet Miser Kepley (February 11, 1847 – June 13, 1925) was the first American woman to graduate from law school. She graduated in 1870 with a law degree, from what is today Northwestern University School of Law. At that time, she was pro ...
, first woman to receive a law degree in the United States
*
Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843 – July 26, 1926) was an American lawyer, businessman, and politician. He was the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. Robert Lincoln became a business lawyer and company presi ...
, completed law degree here.
*
Ferdinand Peck, real estate mogul
*
J. Morris Rea, Iowa attorney and politician, served as state senator
*
Benson Wood, U.S. congressman
*
Lloyd Garrison Wheeler, first African American admitted to the bar in Illinois, and helped found
Provident Hospital.
["Obituary: Lloyd Garrison Wheeler,"]
''Chicago Tribune,'' Aug. 31, 1909, pg. 4.
References
External links
Guide to the Old University of Chicago Records 1856-1890at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{authority control
Educational institutions established in 1856
1886 disestablishments in Illinois
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
Universities and colleges in Chicago
University of Chicago
Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago
Former buildings and structures in Chicago
19th century in Chicago
1856 establishments in Illinois
Educational institutions disestablished in 1886