Four
years after the State of Illinois granted a charter to Northwestern
University, an amendment to the charter kept Northwestern and
the City of Evanston "dry" no alcohol sales allowed
for more than a century.
In 1855, the year
students first enrolled at the new institution, Northwesterns
trustees asked the Illinois General Assembly to amend the charter
to prohibit the manufacture or sale of "spirituous, vinous
or fermented liquors within four miles of the location of said
University."
The amendment called
for a $25 fine for violations, to be collected by a Justice of
the Peace.
At the time, Springfield
was a battleground between the "wets" and "drys."
Trustee Grant Goodrich,
one of the nine founders of Northwestern, played the key role
in winning passage of the amendment. He was a natural for the
task a lawyer, lay leader of the Methodist Church, a mover
and shaker in Chicago political circles and the only founder who
was a teetotaler.
Goodrich engineered
an accord that kept the sale of alcohol off campus and out of
Evanston, launching a "dry" period that would last for
more than 120 years.
The amendment provided
that the act banning sales of alcohol "may be repealed by
the general assembly whenever they think proper." The wording
set forth the only instance in which the General Assembly could
change a provision of the Northwestern charter without the consent
of the University.
After Prohibition
was repealed, the "wets" began to prevail.
In 1934, the General
Assembly approved a local option amendment to the Illinois Liquor
Control Act. Soon taverns sprung up along Howard Street in Chicago
and in Skokie, within four miles of Northwestern. There is no
evidence that law enforcement officials tried to enforce the four-mile
ban.
Evanston and Northwestern
maintained their "dry" status. However, members of
private clubs in the city could imbibe from their own bottles
on club premises. Some restaurants allowed patrons to bring and
consume their own liquor with meals. Blind pigs known in
Prohibition as speakeasies were also available near Evanston
during this "dry" time and nearby liquor stores offered
delivery service to the "dry" town.
The changing culture
and economic hard times in Evanston led the City Council in 1972
to approve the sale of liquor by an 11 to 8 margin, with one abstention.
Supporters said liquor licenses would help businesses in the central
business district especially hotels and restaurants.
Northwestern followed
the trend in 1975, filing a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court.
It asked the court to determine that the local option law impliedly
repealed the charter ban on alcohol sales within four miles of
the campus. The impetus for the legal action came from students
after the State of Illinois allowed the sale of beer and wine
to persons 19 years old. Students wanted to have a "rathskeller"
in Norris University Center.
The University
won its case, applied for a liquor license from Evanston and began
serving liquor on campus, ending the ban on alcohol sales that
had survived more than 120 years.
|