Alumni Association
Blast From the Past
1957-2007: A Campus Comparison
Western Illinois University Fifty Years Ago
By Marla Vizdal '83, University Archives
Western Illinois University, Happy 50th Anniversary. This is a year of celebration for Western, as we observe the 50th anniversary of the year that Western became a university—1957. Western has come a long way since that date, and many things have changed, but let's go back and look at what the campus had to offer students 50 years ago.
On July 5, 1957, Senate Bill No. 592 was passed to change the name of Western Illinois State College to Western Illinois State University. It also repealed an earlier bill, dated July 2, 1947, which enacted the change of the name of Western Illinois State Teachers College to that of Western Illinois State College.
At the time, Western offered a four-year undergraduate teacher education program, which resulted in a bachelor of science in education. The University offered a bachelor of science degree in liberal arts and sciences, with 12 areas of specialization. The 24 two-year courses previously offered were absorbed into the new degree program, which included specializations in art, biological science, business administration, chemistry, English, foreign languages, geography, industrial arts, mathematics, music, physics, and social science.
According to the WIU 1958 undergraduate catalog, Western's new degree program was designed (1) to give its students a broad general education as a cultural background for good citizenship and useful living as a member of society, (2) to provide opportunity for specialization and depth of knowledge, (3) to make it possible for students interested in pre-professional education to meet requirements through the proper choice of a major through liberal arts and sciences, (4) to provide a college education for students not interested in becoming a teacher, and (5) to encourage students to enter the teaching profession by making it easy to transfer from liberal arts and sciences to teaching education, even if the student did not originally intend to teach.
When students came to Western in 1957, they saw a campus that was different than what we see today. While the campus was touted to be the “most beautiful campus in the Midwest,” according to the 1958 catalog, it was much smaller, covering only 300 acres. Seven basic buildings served the campus, and many of them had not received the names by which we know them today. In addition, two of the buildings are either drastically changed or no longer stand. Sherman Hall, the Science Hall (Tillman), Laboratory School Building (Simpkins), Arts Building (Garwood), Public Relations Building (Art Gallery), and the Morgan Gymnasium (Heating Plant Annex) comprised the academic hub of the University. Grote and Seal halls provided housing for female and male students. Veteran's Village, on the present site of Corbin and Olson halls, provided housing for our students who had returned from their military service.
In 1957, the library, which boasted 90,000 volumes of books, was located in Sherman Hall. That was before it moved to a building of its own in 1962, and then to the current Malpass Library in 1978. The student lounge, along with two modern bowling alleys, was located on the second floor of Morgan Gymnasium, above the swimming pool. A popular meeting place for students, the lounge also provided rooms where student clubs could meet. Plans were in the works, however, for a new student lounge which would be located south of the then-present Grote Hall, along with two planned-for dormitories (former Bennett-Hursh halls).
Did You Know? WIU in 1957: • “Veteran's Village” on the present site of Corbin-Olson halls |
A 90-acre agriculture farm was part of the campus, located at the present site of the University Union and Knoblauch Hall. It was a demonstration farm, which housed the Agricultural Experiment Station and a swine testing station.
Every campus had an athletic field, and Western was no different. Western's football field, which was dedicated to former coach Ray “Rock” Hanson in 1950, had a seating capacity of 5,000. In addition, a 9-hole golf course, “one of the finest in the area,” covered a 56-acre tract of land where Higgins and Thompson halls stand today. There was also a baseball field, and several tennis courts available to students.
Western's campus and academic climate has changed a great deal since it became a university 50 years ago. Today Western offers 59 undergraduate degree programs, as well as 35 graduate degree programs and one doctoral program. The University has expanded its teaching facilities to the Quad Cities, where a number of undergraduate and graduate degree programs are offered, as well as four post-baccalaureate certificate programs. Additional research sites, such as the Alice L. Kibbe Life Sciences Station on the Mississippi River, and Horn Field Campus and the University Farm in McDonough County, are also part of Western's campus. The Macomb campus itself covers more than 1,000 acres and houses 54 buildings. Students of 1957 can look at Sherman Hall today and remember when they attended classes there, but their view of the expanded campus is often one of awe when they reflect on how far Western has come through the years.
Happy 50th Anniversary Western Illinois University.
Alumni Association
1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455
E-mail: a-association@wiu.edu
Phone: 309/298-1914