SC013 Shimer College General Photographs

Series

Identifier: RG03-S01

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Shimer College photograph collection contains many photographs, spanning from 1883-2012, with many photographs being undated. These photographs showcase three of Shimer’s different campuses and illustrate how the student body has evolved over the years, from coeducational to an all-girls school and back to coeducational again. This collection also includes photo-negatives and slides, some of the content being unknown and others including campus events, significant campus locations, and portraits of individuals.

Dates

1883 - 2012

Language of Materials

English

Biographical / Historical

Spanning from 1883-2012, the Shimer College photograph collection illustrates how the campus has changed over the years. This collection includes photographs from three of Shimer’s different campuses; Mt. Carroll, Waukegan, and Chicago. These photographs also showcase how the student body has evolved over the years, from being a coeducational seminary originally, to becoming a girls’ finishing school in 1866 due to overcrowding after the Civil War, to accepting male students again after adopting the Great Books curriculum in 1950. As the collection ends in 2012, there are not yet photographs included from Shimer’s days at North Central College.

These photographs show a wide variety of individuals associated with Shimer, including faculty, students, and alumni. They show these individuals participating in myriad college activities, such as theatre productions, student art showings, classes, alumni reunions, student trips, and dorm parties.