Fourth in a series highlighting DePaul’s campus and how it has changed through the years.

The College Theater has one of the most interesting histories of any DePaul University building. It was built in 1907 by the architect John Pridmore and was located at 2219 N. Sheffield, where the Ray Meyer Fitness Center now stands. The Theater was beautifully designed; it followed the Grecian style, with a large dome and no pillars to obstruct anyone’s view of the stage. The walls were painted with ornate murals. The Vincentians received criticism for hosting plays in the theater, as some people felt that priests should not be involved in such worldly activities. However, the Vincentians believed that they could edify the student body and Chicago citizens by hosting plays “devoted to the highest and best drama” (free, of course, from “murder, suicide, and kissing.”).  The Vincentians also had another hope. At the time, the University was suffering under $500,000 in debt, and they believed that ticket sales from a popular theater could help pay it off.
The Theater did not prove as successful as the Vincentians had hoped, and with the advent of World War I the building was turned into barracks for the Student Army Training Corps. After the end of the war, the Theater was remodeled into a gymnasium, called the University Auditorium (or,“The Barn”). The Blue Demon basketball team played here from 1920 to 1957, and Ray Meyer coached the team to numerous victories from inside those walls. However, as the team got more successful, the Auditorium became too small and Alumni Hall was built as a larger venue for the basketball team. Throughout its history, the College Theater served as a venue for student activities such as dances, commencement exercises, lectures, debates and assemblies. Unfortunately, “The Barn” caught fire in 1967 and was torn down in 1976. 

 

Like many of the notable women being celebrated this March during Women's History Month, Amina Wadud has also caused a sensation or two. After authoring the first gender-inclusive critical interpretation of the Qur’an, Wadud continues to publish books, deliver papers, and speak at conferences across the United States and around the world. It was her appearance at DePaul’s 1995 “Islam in America Conference” and DePaul’s subsequent creation of the Islam in America Collection that led her to deposit her papers into the DPU Archives.
 
Born Mary Teasley, Wadud converted to Islam early in her life, changed her name to reflect her chosen religious affiliation, became fluent in Arabic, and earned her master’s and PhD degrees in Near Eastern Studies and Philosophy. Her activism and scholarship for women of the Muslim faith, however, extends beyond these academic boundaries. On two separate occasions Wadud created an international stir by leading prayers and ritual services within a mosque. The depths of resistance in the Islamic tradition to allowing women express their faith in such a way were quickly revealed. Numerous threats also followed the March 18, 2005 midday Muslim prayer, salat-al-jumu’ah, that she led in New York City. As a result Wadud was required to teach her courses at Virginia Commonwealth University by video link for security reasons. Articles relating to this event are located in Box 1, Biographical, Press 2005-2008 of the Amina Wadud Collection.
 
Along with Wadud’s papers, her collection includes copies of all of her publications, including the work she carries out with the international group, Sisters of Islam.
 

To view the finding aid for the Amina Wadud Collection:

http://library.depaul.edu/Collections/spcaPDF/WadudAminaFA.pdf
 

For more information contact Special Collections & Archives, Room 314 or archives@depaul.edu.

Ex Libris: The American Irish Historical Society (Illinois Chapter)

Third in a series highlighting the book collectors whose subject expertise, passion, and resources have contributed to DePaul’s Special Collections

In 1927, a collection of books and documents was transferred to DePaul University’s Library from the American Irish Historical Society Illinois Chapter.  This small donation of less than 50 items peaked DePaul’s interest in Irish Studies which eventually resulted in the Irish Studies Minor begun in 2006.

This collection of books has expanded in these eighty years, mirroring faculty and student interest in and enthusiasm for Ireland and the Irish.  In the 1940’s, a separate Irish Library was created to hold the books added to this collection.  When the Schmitt Academic Center (SAC) was built in 1967, space was set aside for the newly formed Special Collections Department and rare books from the Irish collection were placed here, while many others remained in the circulating collection.  Even today, you can find books with the Irish Library book plate out in the circulating stacks.

The collection that remains in Special Collections contains more than 200 volumes on topics ranging from history to literature to art history.  Authors from the Irish Renaissance (mid nineteenth century), such as Yeats and Lady Gregory, are represented, as are the works of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. 

 

The collection also contains histories of Ireland and important historical texts such as the first edition of Michael Collins’ The Path to Freedom, published in 1922.  You will also find anthologies of Irish poetry, works of literature and facsimiles and materials regarding the famous early medieval manuscript, The Book of Kells.

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Many book collectors paste bookplates inside the front covers of their books and the Latin words ex libris, meaning “from the library of,” were often used.
      

Today's DeAndreis-Rosati Memorial Archives Quarterly lecture, given by Deborah Skok, has been moved to the Student Center, room 324, due to the temporary closure of the Richardson Library.

For more information about the event, see: http://mission.depaul.edu/_downloads/DRMA%20February%202009.pdf

 

Third in a series highlighting DePaul’s campus and how it has changed through the years.

Can you guess which building this is?

 

 

The Schmitt Academic Center didn’t always look like the building that we see today. Although it now connects to O’Connell and Levan, when first constructed SAC stood alone. Named after Arthur J. Schmitt, a noted inventor and philanthropist, SAC was built in 1967 in order to house classrooms, faculty offices, and the university library.

Although it may not be obvious to the general eye, the SAC building won the Concrete Contractor’s Association Superior Craftsmanship Award for “superior concrete construction” in 1968. The next year, in 1969, SAC was taken over by the Black Student Union in order to demand better education for African-American students at DePaul. In 1992, the Richardson Library was built, which eventually connected to SAC through a hallway, and then in 2001, the SAC, O’Connell, and Levan buildings were renovated and joined, obscuring the front view of SAC.

Today SAC remains a vital part of campus life, though it has changed a great deal throughout the years.
   

 

Ex Libris: Gilbert Sims Derr

Second in a series highlighting the book collectors whose subject expertise, passion, and resources have contributed to DePaul’s Special Collections

Starting in the 1960s, DePaul Professor and Alumnus Gilbert Sims Derr strove to inspire mutual understanding between African-Americans and whites by providing resources for African-American studies at DePaul.  In his words, “When the whites get a better idea of what the blacks have contributed to our mutual culture, many of the problems of race relations will be eased.”

Gilbert Sims Derr (1917-1989) grew up in Durham, North Carolina. He completed his undergraduate work at Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia in 1939 and received a Masters Degree from DePaul University in 1948.  While researching his thesis on interracial education, he discovered that DePaul University’s library lacked materials on African Americans.  He vowed to provide these materials by creating a research center for African-American studies at DePaul.  Then, while teaching part time at DePaul in the School of Education and serving as a human relations coordinator in the Chicago public school system, Derr contributed his DePaul salary to the Verona Williams Derr Fund.  The money from this fund went towards a scholarship fund, lecture series and the Verona Williams Derr Collection (named for Derr's wife) now housed in DePaul University’s Special Collections and Archives. 

The Collection contains books relating to African-American culture, Negro Life and History, Black-White Experience, and the Area of Black Studies. The publication dates for the books range from the 1790’s through to the 1960’s.  Professor Derr collected books that presented both sides of the race issue.  The collection contains pro-slavery book titles such as An Enquiry Concerning the Intellectual and Moral Faculties, and Literature of Negroes, 1810 by H. Gregoire and Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments; Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartwright, 1860.  On the other side, the collection also includes anti-slavery publications such as Lydia Maria Francis Child’s 1833 An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans and texts by Abolitionists and African American authors such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Check out some selections from the Derr Collection on exhibit on the third floor of the library through February 28, 2009.

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Many book collectors paste bookplates inside the front covers of their books and the Latin words ex libris, meaning “from the library of,” were often used.

 

 

 

 

Every student who goes to DePaul has probably grumbled about the CTA’s current Brown Line Expansion Project, but what they might not know is that the project actually started five years ago. In 2003, the Hayes-Healy Athletic Center, which was located at 940 W. Belden, was razed to make room for the expanded Fullerton station that is now in its final phase.

Hayes-Healy was originally built by the McCormick Theological Seminary in 1929. Under McCormick, it was known was Waterman Gymnasium and it was used for basketball and handball, as well as office space. When DePaul purchased the Seminary’s buildings in 1976, the Gymnasium was re-named for two benefactors of DePaul, John and Ramona (nee Hayes) Healy. It was built in the “collegiate gothic” style which was most popular in the 1920’s. Hayes-Healy was used for many different purposes by DePaul, though mainly for athletic offices and storage; when Hayes-Healy was purchased, DePaul already played sports matches in The Barn and Alumni Hall.

Stay tuned for more fun facts and photos of long-lost DePaul buildings!

If you go to DePaul University, you probably do! The University has taken its name from St. Vincent DePaul who in 1654 founded the Congregation of the Mission, an order of Catholic Priests who minister and evangelize the poor. The abbreviation C.M. ornaments the end of many faculty and staff priests at DePaul and means that they are members of the Congregation of the Mission. So next time you see President Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider's name on a newsletter or e-mail, you can recognize his relationship to the University's namesake and to its mission of service. 

  The seal of the Congregation of the Mission with the inscription, translated as “He has sent me to evangelize the poor”

 

One hundred years later and they are still not out of the closet. Far Rockaway pieces together a story contained in a bundle of early twentieth century love letters that the editor Maureen Cummins found at a flea market. Despite her painstaking research to reconstruct the identities and places, the story ends in anonymity for a second time when permission to identify one of the men for the book’s publication was denied by the executor of his estate. Pseudonyms now fill in for the names and places that were once clues. Conspicuous black marks attempt to erase these same identifiers on the facsimile copies of their selected correspondence. It is a powerful reminder that despite our changing times, aspects of our culture are as yet unwilling to accept open homosexuality.

Far Rockaway, is a fine press edition, (or artist book), that beautifully captures the unrequited love story between these two men from 1906-1908. Evoking memory and the sense of longing, the hand bound book covers are soft watercolor gradations of sky: day for the front cover and night for the back. The deluxe limited edition contains selected letters that are precisely duplicated down to their original size and shape. In the book’s introduction, Cummins notes that all too often letters and diaries describing homosexual relationships were destroyed by the owner, or his or her family and as a result, much scholarship on gay sexual history has relied on police records for information. The reproduction of these letters, however, opens a primary source window into the universal aspects of love and loss felt by all.

For more information contact Special Collections & Archives, Room 314.

Far Rockaway: A Romantic Correspondence / edited & with an introduction by Maureen Cummins. SpC 306.76620973 C971f2005

 

Every fall, students descend onto DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus in droves. The new students rush around, trying to learn where everything is and get to class on time, and the returning students rush around trying to meet up with friends who they haven’t seen all summer. Few pay attention to the remarkable buildings of the campus, and even fewer take the time to imagine the campus as it was 20, 40, or even 60 years ago. This post is the first in a series called “Bygone DePaul” that will allow you to slowly stroll the Lincoln Park campus and picture what used to be. First up: The Lyceum!

The Lyceum was a two-floor building located at 2235 N. Sheffield, where the Ray Meyer Fitness Center now stands. The building was opened in 1907. Many of its rooms were “distinctively” furnished by the Mandel Brothers, a large department store located in the Loop. These rooms were used by DePaul’s clubs and by outside organizations for meetings and parties. The building also held the College Grill, a fancy eating establishment meant to serve patrons of the College Theater which stood next door.

Over time, the Lyceum served many academic uses as well. It held DePaul University classes almost as soon as it was opened. From 1910 to 1911, the DePaul High School for Girls was located there. In 1912, the DePaul School of Music moved in and remained until 1930. And in 1930, the Liberal Arts library was moved to the second floor, and the President’s Offices moved to the first. At this time, the Lyceum also began to be known as the Library and Administration building.

The Lyceum was razed in 1987, but if you stop by Special Collections on the third floor of the Richardson Library, you can relive DePaul’s history by touching a piece of decorative plaster from the Lyceum itself.