Preface
The impetus for this publication came from Dr. Benjamin H. Alexander, President of Chicago State University, who perceived a widespread interest in the history and recent development of the institution. This publication is intended as a response to these interests expressed by Alumni and numerous friends in the community at large.
Part I was originally published in 1969 as Chicago State College 1869-1969: A Centennial Retrospective. Authored by Dr. Edmund W. Kearney, Professor of History at Chicago State, it appeared under the auspices of the Centennial Commission of Chicago State College to mark the institution's 100th year under its Charter. That volume concluded with the reflection that, given the demands of an urban society, the institution could not afford too long a meditation on things past. It ended with the words: “To look back nostalgically at Englewood's tree-shaded lost tranquility is well; to recall the ways in which service has been rendered is to honor the dead; and, to locate oneself in time and purpose is necessary; but the real centennial act must be to work for, and dream of, the future. Chicago State College, which has served County, City, and State well, often in the midst of crisis, cannot afford too long a meditation. The needs of society and the Republic press upon it.”
Since these words were written ten years ago, the College has become a University and has come to the service of society and the Republic in ways that could not have been anticipated at that time. In fact, there were aspects of the earliest years of the institution's existence which were generally not known when Dr. Kearney first wrote. For it was not until the new campus was occupied in 1973 and the old buildings at 6800 South Stewart demolished that the corner¬stones laid in 1869 and in 1901 were opened. Included in their steel cases were documents that revealed details about the early history of the institution previously unavailable to historians. Some of those documents are reproduced in the pages that follow. Some of the details about the earliest days of education in Cook County have been incorporated into a much expanded section called "The Founding." The opening paragraphs of Dr. Kearney's original book provide the outline for this material, but this expanded section here precedes Part I.
In Part I, "A Centennial Retrospective," Dr. Kearney's original text is reprinted in its entirety, save for the opening paragraphs and the concluding paragraphs which permit a proper transition to the last decade. Though several copies of this book remain in the Douglas Library and in private collections, the volume is generally unavailable to the larger public. Here it becomes accessible once more. Except for the republication in this volume, the original copyright remains intact.
In the last decade, of course, much has happened, few of the implications being present in 1969 to even the most perceptive observer. A number of documents have been utilized that are part of the public record, including official publications from the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the daily news stories of the Chicago press. One has to weigh carefully the claims in both instances, both the official claims of institutions and the sensational headlines that sell newspapers. A balanced perspective is sought, but final judgment must be postponed for some years yet on events that arc still too close to us to read properly.
The developments during the last decade which are rehearsed in Part II represent the highlights of difficult years of transition to a multipurpose urban university. These are controversial years across the country for higher education. Dr. Moore has attempted to place the emergence of Chicago State University within the larger perspective of the developing Master Plan in the State of Illinois and issues with which all American institutions in higher education were struggling. The last decade for Chicago State University has been one of remarkable growth and new directions in service and commitment to the needs of the people of Chicago and Illinois. It is a story worthy of the heritage of the first century and one that marks an auspicious beginning to the second.
Edmund W. Kearney Chicago
June 1969
E. Maynard Moore Chicago
June 1979
