NIU Regional History Center photos on display at The House

by Mark McGowan

Photographs showing the history of NIU and DeKalb County are on display through July 29 at The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

The black-and-white photos found in "Windows Into The Past" come from the 1999 NIU Centennial Exhibit created by Glen Gildemeister, director of the Regional History Center at NIU. All are reproductions from photographs housed in the center's collection.

Cindy Ditzler, curator of the center, said the exhibit demonstrates in photos the relationship between NIU and its hometown.

"The photos are a combination of university and community," Ditzler said. "Oftentimes, the university and the community don't connect, and this is a way for the community to see how well we've lived together in the past."

Among the photos on display are images of Altgeld Hall construction, a 1909 Maypole ceremony, food service workers in 1954, a 1900 biology field trip, a Shakespeare on the Lawn production of "Much Ado About Nothing" from 1915, Greek Row Chariot Races in 1960, a Montgomery Hall arboretum protest in 1971 and lagoon ice-cutting in 1899. Other photos show the Glidden Hotel in 1893, the DeKalb Telephone Co. in 1901, the Lon Smith Meat Market in 1907, a horse sale on Main Street in 1893 and women working in the Wurlitzer plant in 1942.

Gildemeister will appear at 7 p.m. today for a lecture at The House to put words to the images.

"He's a great storyteller," Ditzler said. "He knows the history of the university and the town very well."

Steve Thiel, a local artist and manager of university information in telecommunications, suggested putting the exhibit on display at The House. The Regional History Center previously was housed in Swen Parson Hall, where Thiel has his office, and the center's staff regularly created photo exhibits in the display cases there.

Thiel and Heather Weber then helped to hang the display at The House, where Ditzler said it is garnering "rave" reviews. Thiel attached the larger "oversize" photos to storm windows with Velcro, which provided the inspiration for the name "Windows Into The Past."

"It's different from what they usually get there," Ditzler said. "People are having fun looking at the photos."

"We attempted to choose images in different eras from the DeKalb community as well as from NIU. This is an attempt to show the symbiosis between the town and university," Thiel said. "I felt the show also was an excellent presentation to help announce to the public that the University Archives have moved to Founders Memorial Library."

Hours at The House are usually 7 a.m. until midnight seven days a week. For more information, call Ditzler at 753-9394.