University Hall: symbol of rich heritage, bright future

University Hall with its high gothic style is the oldest building on campus, an enduring symbol of Northwestern’s links to the past and its hopes for the future.

Its cornerstone was finally laid in 1868, 13 years after Northwestern opened its original building, a three-story frame structure at Davis and Hinman.

Reminiscent of the great buildings that dominated the European skyline for centuries, University Hall was completed in 1869, following the tumultuous years of the Civil War. The building’s completion was a milestone, affirming the hopes and dreams of the Methodists who founded the University and the rapidly growing town of Evanston. Trustees came through with $125,000 for the new main school building, mostly through continued sale of lots on the old Foster farm -- the lakefront site purchased by Northwestern’s founders -- and a bank loan.

Designed by architect G. P. Randall, the Joliet limestone building stood virtually alone on what is now the busy, nearly mile-long Evanston campus. The Chicago papers beamed about the new building, with its picturesque towers, turrets and mansards. According to The Chicago Republican, the site with trees curving down toward the shore was an "eyebrow of beauty," in the language of the Indians who once lived there.

Considered large and ample when it opened its doors, University Hall filled quickly, housing all University classes, the library, a chemical lab, a chapel, two society rooms and a fourth-floor natural history museum.

In its early years, the living quarters of Daniel Bonbright, a language and literature professor who helped with the original architectural sketches of University Hall, were on the second floor. A skeleton of a whale hung from the ceiling of one of the fourth floor rooms; and a cafeteria in the basement was run by the Women’s Athletic Association to raise money for a new women’s building.

Women’s issues were of great concern to Erastus O. Haven, whose inauguration as Northwestern’s fifth president coincided with the original dedication of University Hall. Garry Wills, a present-day Northwestern notable, talked about Haven’s spirit and vision during University Hall’s re-dedication ceremony in 1993. Wills, a Pulitzer prize-winning history professor and prominent public intellectual, described Haven as a progressive in education and strong champion of women’s rights. Haven negotiated the admission of women as part of the deal to bring him to Northwestern.

University Hall has withstood many such changes at Northwestern as well as in the nation, including two world wars and the Great Depression. Thanks largely to the $5.2 million renovation that preceded the 1993 re-dedication ceremony, the Gothic Revival building defies the tests of time. Funding for the renovation came from a $500,000 gift from the Northwestern Alumni Association and the University’s deferred maintenance fund.

But University Hall’s refurbished interior with its "smart" classrooms and 21st century ambitions would have been unimaginable to Professor Bonbright or his colleagues and students. Much care was put into maintaining the building’s original wooden picture frames and enhancing the building’s interior with natural wood wainscoting and traditional light fixtures.

Today its first floor houses four large seminar rooms -- two 75-seat rooms with computerized video projection equipment and two 50-seat rooms with removable seating. Seven additional seminar rooms with 20 to 25 seats are located throughout the building. An elevator now provides convenient access to all floors in the building.

The English department is on the second floor; and the garden floor provides offices for undergraduates and the Undergraduate Program Center (including American studies, college scholars, business institutions and Asian American studies programs). Most of the second, third and fourth floors are devoted to faculty offices.

Although the interior of University Hall has changed significantly, its exterior looks much like it did 131 years ago.

To the thousands who walk by the building each year, University Hall — Northwestern’s most recognized landmark -- is a stately reminder of Northwestern’s rich past and its bright future.