Walking across the campus today, it’s hard to envision the undeveloped vista encountered by Illinois State University’s founders. Even more sobering is the scope of their task as they created the first state university in Illinois, shaping not just a curriculum but physical structures where it would be taught.
When the University opened its doors in October of 1857 to 43 students, the founders must have known they were providing more than tangible books and classrooms. They were building a community where teaching and learning would become a way of life.
Illinois State’s landscape is radically altered from 150 years ago. Academic programs have expanded as well, and the University’s mission has evolved beyond teaching to include research and public service.
The story of how these changes occurred is filled with intrigue and inspiration, as this list of 150 firsts in the University’s history reveals. While far from a complete chronology, each fact documents a stage in Illinois State’s evolution.
Take a moment to catch a glimpse of the events and individuals integral to the University’s establishment as a prestigious teacher’s college, as well as Illinois State’s transformation throughout each decade. Your Redbird pride will grow with your knowledge of how your university purposefully became a leader in undergraduate education.
1940s
- Lt. Alfred Voss was the first graduate killed during WWII. He died in a plane crash while stationed at Selfridge Field in Michigan on October 15, 1941.
- The U.S. Navy dropped anchor at Illinois State in 1943. The University was one of 130 in the nation to host the Navy V-12 program, which produced 60,000 Navy and Marine Corps officers during the final two years of WWII.
- The first special education program in the state of Illinois was established by the University in 1943 to train teachers of exceptional children.
- The first master’s program was established in 1944. Charlotte Elizabeth Wilcox was the first student to earn a graduate degree, obtaining a M.S. in education in 1945.
- Nelson Smith ’47, M.S. ’48, was the University’s first photographer. He served for more than 50 years before retiring in the early 1990s.
- Efforts to build private support for the University date back to 1948. It was then the Foundation came into existence as a not-for-profit corporation organized under State of Illinois laws.
- Charles Yahr became the first student in Illinois State’s history to graduate with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. He completed his bachelor’s degree in geography in 1949.
1950s
- Shared governance became a priority with the creation of a University Council in 1951.
- Wanda Rae (Bryant) Powell ’55 made history on campus when she brought her 18-month-old daughter with her for half a semester spent living in the Home Management House, now known as Rambo House. In fulfilling the academic requirement, Powell and her child Diana (Powell) Nelson ’75, B.S. ’98, became the first mother-daughter pair in residence.
- The first Madrigal Dinner was performed in 1956. The annual holiday event is one of the oldest in the nation.
- The University’s first national debate championship was captured by Donald McHenry in 1957, which was the year he graduated. McHenry served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations during the Jimmy Carter administration.
- Students who entered Illinois State in 1958 noted a significant change in the University catalog, which no longer included a ban on alcohol.
- The first long Thanksgiving weekend occurred in 1958. The University closed on the Friday following the holiday so that needed repairs could be completed on the only campus electrical loop, which was damaged during the destruction of Old Main. Another project was found to justify extending the break in 1959, cementing the tradition of giving employees a four-day weekend.
