1850 - 1899 Timeline: Northwestern University

An 1853-54 map of Evanston created by Philo Judson, Northwestern University's first Business Manager. Courtesy of University Archives.

On May 31 John Evans, Grant Goodrich, Henry W. Clark, Andrew Brown, Orrington Lunt, Jabez Botsford, Richard Haney, Richard H. Blanchard, and Zodoc Hall meet above a hardware store at 69 West Lake Street in Chicago and resolve to establish a university under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

On January 28, the Illinois legislature approves Northwestern's Act of Incorporation, granting 36 trustees the power to administer the University's business affairs, organize faculty, adopt by-laws, and grant degrees.
Scholarships for donors' descendants sold to raise money.

Clark T. Hinman becomes University's first president on June 23.
The University purchases 379 acres on Lake Michigan for $25,000.

The University officially opens on November 5.
Northwestern's first building, Old College, is completed.
An amendment to University charter forbids the sale of liquor within four miles of campus.
The unaffiliated Northwestern Female College founded by William P. Jones.
Hinman Literary Society (first extracurricular activity) is formed.

Daniel Bonbright becomes the University president.

Dr. Randolph S. Foster becomes the University president.

Four students receive bachelor's degrees at Northwestern's first commencement.
The Phi Delta Theta fraternity chapter is established.

Henry Noyes becomes the University president.
Student Edward Spencer rescues 17 survivors of the Lady Elgin, which sank in Lake Michigan.

Seventy-seven students and staff fight for the Union in the Civil War, and two fight for the Confederacy; seven die.

The first master's program (in philosophy) begins.

Erastus Haven becomes the University president.
Trustees vote to admit young women to University classes "under the same terms and conditions as young men." Evanston resident Rebecca Hoag becomes first female to enroll at Northwestern.
University Hall is built.

Dr. Charles Fowler becomes the University president.
Chicago Medical College and Northwestern agree to become affiliated.

Northwestern lifesaving station established where Fisk Hall now stands. More than 400 people saved from drowning in Lake Michigan before the U.S. Coast Guard takes over the operation in 1916.

Frances Willard becomes first Dean of Women when the Evanston College for Ladies merges with Northwestern.

Sarah Rebecca Roland is first woman to receive a degree from Northwestern.

Purple and gold are adopted as school colors.

Fences are put up to keep cattle off campus.

The Alpha Phi sorority is formed.

The Northwestern student newspaper founded as a bi-weekly publication.
The Alumni Association is formed.

The first football game is played against Lake Forest College.

The first yearbook, The Pandora, is published.
Memorial Hall of Garrett Bible Institute is completed.

The Syllabus is first published.

Freshmen celebrate the first Trig Cremation Day, when they burn trigonometry books.
The College of Dental and Oral Surgery is established.

Dearborn Observatory is built.

Northwestern becomes first Midwestern university admitted to Phi Beta Kappa.

Henry Wade Rogers becomes University president.

The School of Law opens.

Northwestern University Settlement Association is formed to do social work in Chicago.
Purple is adopted as the official (and only) school color.

Daniel Hale Williams, a graduate and faculty member of the Medical School, performs the first successful open-heart surgery at the first interracial hospital in the United States, Provident in Chicago.

Lunt Library is built.

The Conservatory of Music, affiliated with the University since 1891, becomes a permanent department.

Northwestern's first PhDs are awarded; one is in chemistry, and one is in philosophy.
Representatives from Northwestern and six other Midwestern universities create the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives to supervise intercollegiate sports among their institutions. It becomes known as the Western Conference and, eventually, the Big Ten.

The semester system replaces the three-term academic year in effect since 1855.
Women's tennis team wins its second intercollegiate tournament.

Women's basketball first played at Northwestern against "young ladies from Austin High School."

History of Northwestern