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IWU Magazine

175 Years of IWU

Since its founding in 1850, Illinois Wesleyan University has been a landmark of elite higher education in the Midwest. During that time, the University has been witness to and part of history, making our mark with milestones of development and achievement.

This timeline celebrates our new milestone by detailing many of the most significant accomplishments, interesting moments and adaptive evolutions that IWU has experienced across a history almost as old as the state of Illinois itself.

Close-up of the IWU charter

1850

  • The founding of Illinois Wesleyan University. Originally intended to be Illinois University, “Wesleyan” was added to the name in the official charter papers with an insert caret after gaining financial support from the Methodist Church.

1856

  • Old North Hall constructed as the first building on campus.

1861Joseph and George Fifer in military uniforms

  • IWU students and brothers Joseph (left) and George Fifer (right) enlisted with the Union Army during the Civil War. George died in 1863. Joseph, who earned a law degree from IWU in 1868, became the 19th governor of Illinois in 1889.

 

 

1863

  • Musical instruction began at IWU. In 1877, the School of Music was founded as one of the first discrete school institution at IWU.

1865John Wesley Powell painted portrait

  • John Wesley Powell joined IWU’s faculty after returning from the Civil War, in which he achieved the rank of major and lost his right arm. In 1867 Powell took Illinois Wesleyan students on a surveying trip of Colorado, one of the first expeditions of its kind in the history of American higher education.

 

 

 

1866

  • Phi Gamma Delta established as the first fraternity on campus.
  • The Isaac Funk Endowed Professorship established as IWU’s first endowed faculty position, in honor of one of IWU’s founders. The position still exists today.

1867

  • IWU approved the admission of its first African American student, alluding to the 14th Amendment in calling him a “citizen of African descent.” A different student, George A. Hill, became the first African American student to graduate from IWU in 1880.

1870Old Main hall

  • IWU began accepting female students with Kate B. Ross being the first, joining the class of 1874. Josephine Mabel W. Jackson was the first African American woman to graduate from IWU in 1910.
  • Old Main built as the central building
    on campus.

 

1887

  • The IWU football team created as one of the first official university athletics teams.

1889Alfred O. Coffin portrait

  • Alfred O. Coffin became the first African American to earn a PhD in biology, granted by IWU.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1890

  • IWU’s first two international students, Yeizo Osawa and Kashiyira Tanaka, both from Tokyo, Japan, completed their degrees. 100 years later, in 1990, the Tanaka Memorial Foundation donated to establish Japanese language studies at IWU and has long sponsored students and faculty annually at Technos Week in Japan.

1894

  • The first issue of The Argus student newspaper published.

1910Science Hall interior

  • Ralph S. Freese ‘11, an IWU football player, wrote the music to The Cheer Song.
  • The men’s basketball team created.
  • Stevenson Hall built, originally called Science Hall. It is now the oldest building on campus still in use.

 

 

1915

  • The IWU Student Council created.

1921Memorial Gymnasium

  • Memorial Gymnasium constructed, with a grant from the Bloomington Association of Commerce, to expand athletics at IWU. The building is now the Hansen Student Center.

 

 

1922Pillsbury architectural plan for the IWU campus

  • Bloomington native and architect A. L. Pillsbury designed a campus renovation and expansion project for the University. He was the architect of multiple buildings on campus, including the English House and Stevenson Hall.

 

 

1924

  • The School of Nursing created in partnership with what is now Carle BroMenn Medical Center. In 1959, it was expanded into a full baccalaureate program housed in Stevenson Hall and gained national accreditation within three years.

1928

  • Hedding College incorporated into IWU. The Hedding Bell and Columns are housed on campus, displayed on the quad and the south entrance to campus. Old Main was renamed Hedding Hall in honor of the college.

1929

  • Presser Hall built as the final piece of the realized Pillsbury Campus Master Plan with a donation from the foundation of music publisher Theodore Presser.

1933

  • To keep up enrollment during the Great Depression, IWU adopted the novel concept of accepting produce and livestock as in-kind tuition payment.

1943Front page of The Argus with news report of Hedding Hall fire

  • Hedding Hall burned down in a tragic fire. A large portion of IWU’s antiquities collection was housed in Hedding Hall, possibly including many items donated by John Wesley Powell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1947

  • The Memorial Center dedicated in October 1947 as a memorial to the students and alumni who served in the Second World War.

1951

  • Beloved IWU mascot Tommy Titan created by Lee Short ‘44.

1961Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking on campus

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at IWU for the first time. He visited campus again in 1966.

 

 

 

 

1963

  • McPherson Theatre built, replacing “Spotlight Alley” as a venue for theatrical performance on campus.

1968

  • Robert S. Eckley became IWU’s president and served the longest presidential term, until 1986.

1971

  • The women’s basketball team created, one year before the passage of Title IX. The first recorded unofficial women’s basketball game had taken place on campus in 1894.

1972Student operating sound board at WESN

  • Campus radio station WESN 88.1 created as an opportunity for students to enrich campus culture and gain technical knowledge.

 

 

 

1984

  • Evelyn Chapel constructed as the new center of religious activity on campus and as a space for musical instruction, being designed for acoustic excellence.

1989Photo portrait of Minor Myers, jr.

  • The first Gospel Fest put on by the Black Student Union.
  • Minor Myers, jr. became IWU's 17th president until his death in 2003. He is the only IWU president to have died in office.

 

 

 

 

 

1993

1994

  • The Shirk Center dedicated as an expansion of IWU athletics and a Bloomington-Normal community hub.

1995CNS interior balcony

  • The Center for Natural Sciences dedicated, later featured as model building by the National Science Foundation.

 

 

 

1997

  • Sherff Hall renovated into the Center for Liberal Arts, providing classrooms and offices for faculty in the humanities and social sciences.

2002The Bates & Merwin Reading Room

  • The Ames Library opened to campus. Its 4th floor houses the Tate Archives and Bates & Merwin Reading Room, featuring the Minor Myers, jr. Honors Collection.

 

 

 

2008

  • Minor Myers jr. Welcome Center dedicated, becoming Bloomington's first LEED-certified building.

2013

  • State Farm Hall opened as a new teaching and office venue, housing what is now the School of Business and Economics.

2019

  • S. Georgia Nugent became the first female president of the University and led campus through the COVID-19 pandemic.

2025

  • The 175th anniversary of IWU.