CHICAGO 



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CHICAGO 



policemen were killed. Serious strikes have 

 occurred at intervals in the Stockyards, but 

 most noteworthy of these movements were the 

 railway strike in 1894, put down only with the 

 aid of Federal troops, and the teamsters' 

 strikes of 1904-1905. An event of more pleas- 

 ing character was the World's Columbian Ex- 

 position (which see) of 1893, the greatest world's 

 fair held up to that time. On December 30, 

 1903, there occurred in the Iroquois Theater a 

 fire in which 572 lives were lost, and as a result 

 of this disaster theaters not only in Chicago 

 but all over the world have been built and 

 equipped with more thought of safety. The 

 city has always been a favorite meeting place 

 for conventions, and among others the national 

 conventions at which Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, 

 Elaine, Cleveland, Harrison, Bryan, Roosevelt, 

 Taft and Hughes were nominated for President 

 of the United States were held there. E J).F. 



CHICAGO, UNIVERSITY OF, one of the most 

 prominent institutions of higher education in 

 the United States. It is located in Chicago 

 and centered on the Midway Plaisance, which 

 connects Jackson and Washington parks, and 



HARPER MEMORIAL, LIBRARY 

 This building illustrates the prevailing style of 

 architecture on the university campus. 



has over a score of buildings in the Gothic 

 style which are unsurpassed on any campus 

 in the country. The campus itself, except for 

 the buildings, has little of the picturesqueness 

 of those in many smaller towns or in less 

 crowded areas. 



Its rapid growth is one of the things about 

 the university which its students celebrate in 

 song; it is the newest of the great universities, 

 though in its antecedents it dates from the 

 middle of the nineteenth century. The old 

 University of Chicago, a Baptist school of col- 

 lege rank, was opened in 1857, but was com- 

 pelled through lack of funds to surrender its 



charter in 1886. Four years later, largely 

 through the efforts of the American Baptist 

 Educational Society, the new university vat 

 opened, and though it is in no sense a denomi- 

 national institution and exacts no religious testa 

 of students or teachers, its charter provides 

 that the president and two-thirds of the trus- 

 tees must be Baptists. 



Organization. The university thus chartered 

 in 1890 is organized into five departments: 

 (1) schools and colleges, including the four- 

 year undergraduate courses, as well as the 

 graduate schools; (2) university extension, 

 which by correspondence courses and lectures 

 attempts to reach those not in attendance on 

 its classes; (3) university libraries, laboratories 

 and museums; (4) the university press; and 

 (5) the affiliated and cooperating schools. 



In arranging its courses the university 

 mapped out a plan for itself differing from that 

 of any other American university. The 

 scholastic year is not the usual period of nine 

 months, but is divided into four quarters, each 

 of which is subdivided into two terms. The 

 summer quarter, at most universities a vacation 

 period, is at the University of Chicago the 

 busiest term of the year; teachers flock to it 

 from all parts of the country, for in three 

 summer courses they can complete an ordinary 

 college year of work. Since the courses are 

 arranged by quarters, a student may drop out 

 for three months at any time without interfer- 

 ing with his work. The four years of under- 

 graduate work are divided into the junior col- 

 leges, or freshman and sophomore years, and 

 the senior colleges, the junior and senior years. 

 At the end of the first period a certificate is 

 issued, and at the end of the second the 

 bachelor's degree is given. Especial emphasis 

 is laid on graduate work, and everything pos- 

 sible is done to encourage students in original 

 research. 



Growth. Though many benefactors have 

 given liberally to the upbuilding and equip- 

 ment of the university, ita growth has been 

 largely due to the bequests of John D. Rocke- 

 feller, who at various times contributed sums 

 totaling about $35,000,000. William Ramey 

 Harper, president from its foundation to 1908, 

 developed a policy which attracted student* 

 from every part of the Union. His successor, 

 Harry Pratt Judson. has carried out approxi- 

 mately the same policy, and the result has been 

 continued growth in attendance and in financial 

 resources. The libraries of the university con- 

 tain almost 600,000 volumes; the total 



