112-515: Lake Shore Park is a public park in Chicago , in the U.S. state of Illinois . This Chicago -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Chicago Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States . With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census , it is the third-most populous city in
224-403: A Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics . In 1956, the city conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O'Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County. By the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond
336-539: A boon to the university as it trained over 36,000 sailors over the course of the war, which led Northwestern to be called the " Annapolis of the Midwest." Franklyn B. Snyder led the university from 1939 to 1949, and after the war, surging enrollments under the G.I. Bill drove the dramatic expansion of both campuses. In 1948, prominent anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits founded the Program of African Studies at Northwestern,
448-596: A comparable journalism program to that of its U.S. campus given Qatar's instances of censorship and strict limits on journalistic and academic freedoms. The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development , a private charitable institution founded by former emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his wife and mother of the current emir Sheikha Moza bint Nasser , provided funding for construction and administrative costs, as well as support to hire 50 to 60 faculty and staff, some of whom rotate between
560-486: A heart attack soon after. Washington was succeeded by 6th ward alderperson Eugene Sawyer , who was elected by the Chicago City Council and served until a special election. Richard M. Daley , son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. His accomplishments included improvements to parks and creating incentives for sustainable development , as well as closing Meigs Field in the middle of the night and destroying
672-428: A low of $ 331,000 in 1935. The university responded with two salary cuts of 10 percent each for all employees. It imposed hiring and building freezes and slashed appropriations for maintenance, books, and research. Having had a balanced budget in 1930–31, the university now faced deficits of roughly $ 100,000 for the next four years. Enrollments fell in most schools, with law and music suffering the biggest declines. However,
784-497: A master plan for the principal buildings on the new campus, which he designed in collegiate gothic style. In 1923, Mrs. Montgomery Ward donated $ 8 million to the campaign to finance the construction of the Montgomery Ward Memorial Building, which would house the medical and dental schools, and create endowments for faculty chairs, research grants, scholarships, and building maintenance. The building would become
896-892: A meeting on May 31, 1850, of nine prominent Chicago businessmen, Methodist leaders, and attorneys who had formed the idea of establishing a university to serve what had been known from 1787 to 1803 as the Northwest Territory . On January 28, 1851, the Illinois General Assembly granted a charter to the Trustees of the North-Western University , making it the first chartered university in Illinois. The school's nine founders, all of whom were Methodists (three of them ministers), knelt in prayer and worship before launching their first organizational meeting. Although they affiliated
1008-660: A model for the new field of social work . During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago attained national stature as the leader in the movement to improve public health. City laws and later, state laws that upgraded standards for the medical profession and fought urban epidemics of cholera , smallpox , and yellow fever were both passed and enforced. These laws became templates for public health reform in other cities and states. The city established many large, well-landscaped municipal parks , which also included public sanitation facilities. The chief advocate for improving public health in Chicago
1120-472: A new grade with the use of jackscrews for raising buildings. While elevating Chicago, and at first improving the city's health, the untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River , and subsequently into Lake Michigan , polluting the city's primary freshwater source. The city responded by tunneling two miles (3.2 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs . In 1900,
1232-634: A partnership with Oakton College and the Illinois Department of Corrections in 2023, Northwestern awarded the first bachelors degrees in the United States to a graduating class of prisoners from a top-ranked university. In April 2024, Northwestern University students joined other campuses across the United States in protests against the Israel–Hamas war . The student protestors demanded divestment from companies with ties to Israel and that
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#17331050028201344-458: A record 52,225 applications for its class size of approximately 2,100 students in 2022–2023 academic year. For the Class of 2027, regular decision acceptance rate was approximately 4.6%, while overall acceptance rate remained around 7.0%. For the Class of 2026, the interquartile range (middle 50%) on the post-2016 SAT was a combined (verbal and math) 1500–1560 out of 1600; the interquartile range on
1456-419: A speech at Northwestern School of Law's Lincoln Hall, then Governor of Illinois George Ryan announced that he would commute the sentences of more than 150 death-row inmates. In the 2010s, a five-year capital campaign resulted in a new music center, a replacement building for the business school, and a $ 270 million athletic complex. In 2014, President Barack Obama delivered a seminal economics speech at
1568-583: A student-to-faculty ratio of 6:1. 77% of the classes have less than 20 students while 5.5% of the classes have more than 50 students. The Northwestern library system consists of four libraries on the Evanston campus including the Main University Library , the Boas Mathematics Library, Mudd Library, and the original library building, Deering Library; three libraries on the Chicago campus; and
1680-790: Is also prominent in law and medicine . Northwestern is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the respective national professional organizations for chemistry, psychology, business, education, journalism, music, engineering, law, and medicine. Northwestern conferred 2,190 bachelor's degrees, 3,272 master's degrees, 565 doctoral degrees, and 444 professional degrees in 2012–2013. Since 1951, Northwestern has awarded 520 honorary degrees . Northwestern also has chapters of academic honor societies such as Phi Beta Kappa (Alpha of Illinois), Eta Kappa Nu , Tau Beta Pi , Eta Sigma Phi (Beta Chapter), Lambda Pi Eta , and Alpha Sigma Lambda (Alpha Chapter). Northwestern maintains
1792-410: Is an international hub for finance, culture , commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation . It has the largest and most diverse finance derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport is routinely ranked among the world's top six busiest airports by passenger traffic , and
1904-581: Is called the Purple Line , taking its name from Northwestern's school color. The Foster and Davis stations are within walking distance of the southern end of the campus, while the Noyes station is close to the northern end of the campus. The Central station is close to Ryan Field , Northwestern's football stadium. The Evanston Davis Street Metra station serves the Northwestern campus in downtown Evanston and
2016-518: Is chaired by Peter Barris '74. The board delegates its power to an elected president who serves as the chief executive officer of the university. Northwestern has had seventeen presidents in its history (excluding interim presidents). The current president, legal scholar Michael Schill , succeeded Morton O. Schapiro in fall 2022. The president maintains a staff of vice presidents, directors, and other assistants for administrative, financial, faculty, and student matters. Kathleen Haggerty assumed
2128-638: Is characterized by its blend of modern and historic gothic architecture . Northwestern's Evanston campus, where the undergraduate schools, the Graduate School, and the Kellogg School of Management are located, runs north–south from Lincoln Avenue to Clark Street west of Lake Michigan along Sheridan Road . North Campus is home to the fraternity quads , athletics facilities including the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Norris Aquatics Center,
2240-534: Is composed of eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools which includes Kellogg School of Management , McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences among others. In addition to the Evanston campus, it has campuses in downtown Chicago , Coral Gables , San Francisco , Doha , and Washington, D.C. As of 2023, the university had an endowment of $ 14.1 billion, an annual budget of around $ 2.9 billion, and research funding of over $ 1 billion. The university fields 19 intercollegiate athletic teams,
2352-464: Is drawn from all 50 states and over 75 foreign countries. Twenty percent of students in the Class of 2024 were Pell Grant recipients and 12.56% were first-generation college students. Northwestern also enrolls the ninth-most National Merit Scholars of any university in the nation. In Fall 2014, 40.6% of undergraduate students were enrolled in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, 21.3% in
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#17331050028202464-407: Is known to botanists as Allium tricoccum and known more commonly as "ramps". The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as " Checagou " was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir. Henri Joutel , in his journal of 1688, noted that the eponymous wild "garlic" grew profusely in the area. According to his diary of late September 1687: ... when we arrived at
2576-492: Is no university-wide core curriculum , a foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, sometimes referred as distribution requirements, are required for all majors; individual degree requirements are set by the faculty of each school. The university heavily emphasizes interdisciplinary learning, with 72% of undergrads combining two or more areas of study. Northwestern's full-time undergraduate and graduate programs operate on an approximately 10-week academic quarter system with
2688-798: Is the 14th-largest university library in North America based on total number of titles held. Among the library's collection and sections are: Northwestern, along with 15 other universities, participates in digitizing its collections as part of the Google Book Search project. Northwestern University Library is a partner with the Native American Education Services College (NAES), the American Indian Association of Illinois (AIAI), and Northwestern University's Center for Native American and Indigenous Research in
2800-473: The Black Belt . While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting , completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods. Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in
2912-699: The Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow either entirely or partially through the city. Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's huge lake freighters use the city's Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. The lake also provides another positive effect: moderating Chicago's climate, making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. When Chicago
3024-520: The Evanston Central Street Metra station is near Ryan Field. Pace Suburban Bus Service and the CTA have several bus routes that run through or near the Evanston campus. Northwestern's Chicago campus is located in the city's Streeterville neighborhood near Lake Michigan. The Chicago campus is home to the nationally ranked Northwestern Memorial Hospital , the medical school , the law school ,
3136-580: The Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad. Manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy . The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first-ever standardized "exchange-traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts . In
3248-525: The Jefferson Township , which now makes up most of Chicago's Northwest Side . The desire to join the city was driven by municipal services that the city could provide its residents. Chicago's flourishing economy attracted huge numbers of new immigrants from Europe and migrants from the Eastern United States . Of the total population in 1900, more than 77% were either foreign-born or born in
3360-470: The Kellogg School of Management and built several prominent buildings on the Evanston campus, including Dyche Stadium , now named Ryan Field , among others. In the 1920s, Northwestern became one of the first six universities in the United States to establish a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). In 1939, Northwestern hosted the first-ever NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game in
3472-503: The Miami , Sauk and Meskwaki peoples in this region. The first known permanent settler in Chicago was trader Jean Baptiste Point du Sable . Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago." In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in
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3584-656: The Mississippi River watershed . It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but Chicago's population continued to grow. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and architecture , such as the Chicago School , the development of the City Beautiful movement , and the steel-framed skyscraper . Chicago
3696-578: The New Negro Movement , in art, literature, and music. Continuing racial tensions and violence, such as the Chicago race riot of 1919 , also occurred. The ratification of the 18th amendment to the Constitution in 1919 made the production and sale (including exportation) of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. This ushered in the beginning of what is known as the gangster era, a time that roughly spans from 1919 until 1933 when Prohibition
3808-803: The Northwest Indian War , an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville . In 1803, the U.S. Army constructed Fort Dearborn , which was destroyed during the War of 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the Potawatomi before being later rebuilt. After the War of 1812, the Ottawa , Ojibwe , and Potawatomi tribes ceded additional land to
3920-836: The Northwestern Wildcats , which compete in the NCAA Division I in the Big Ten Conference . As of September 2020, 33 Nobel Prize laureates and 2 Fields Medalists were affiliated with Northwestern as alumni or faculty . In addition, Northwestern has been associated with 47 Pulitzer Prize winners, 23 National Medal of Science winners, 11 National Humanities Medal recipients, 23 MacArthur Fellows , 20 Rhodes Scholars , and 28 Marshall Scholars . Northwestern alumni also include 10 living billionaires, 2 U.S. Supreme Court Justices , and 25 Olympic medalists . The foundation of Northwestern University can be traced to
4032-463: The University of Chicago , Northwestern University , and the University of Illinois Chicago , among other institutions of learning . Professional sports in Chicago include all major professional leagues , including two Major League Baseball teams. The name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami–Illinois word shikaakwa for a wild relative of the onion ; it
4144-663: The Washington and Jackson Parks. During World War I and the 1920s there was a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the Southern United States . Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population of Chicago increased dramatically, from 44,103 to 233,903. This Great Migration had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance , part of
4256-497: The Yale University campus, to house the professional schools. In addition, James Gamble Rogers designed a library in accordance with the gothic architectural style on the Evanston campus in order to make use of the $ 1 million donated to the school after the death of Charles Deering . This library is named in memory of him and its design was inspired by Cambridge University's King's College Chapel . The university also established
4368-485: The "About Our Students: Recruit at Northwestern" page on Northwestern's website. The freshman retention rate for that year was 99%. Eighty-six percent of students graduated after four years and 96% graduated after six years. These numbers can largely be attributed to the university's various specialized degree programs, such as those that allow students to earn master's degrees with a one- or two-year extension of their undergraduate program. The undergraduate population
4480-490: The 1800s, Chicago became the nation's railroad hub, and by 1910 over 20 railroads operated passenger service out of six different downtown terminals. In 1883, Chicago's railway managers needed a general time convention, so they developed the standardized system of North American time zones . This system for telling time spread throughout the continent. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at
4592-477: The 1850s, Chicago gained national political prominence as the home of Senator Stephen Douglas , the champion of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the "popular sovereignty" approach to the issue of the spread of slavery. These issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln , to the national stage. Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for U.S. president at the 1860 Republican National Convention , which
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4704-497: The 1970s and 1980s, President Arnold R. Weber was able to stabilize university finances, which led to a revitalization of its campuses. In 1996, Princess Diana visited Northwestern's Evanston and Chicago campuses to raise money for the university hospital's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at the invitation of then- President Bienen . Her visit raised a total of $ 1.5 million for cancer research. As admissions to colleges and universities grew increasingly competitive in
4816-459: The 1990s and 2000s, President Henry S. Bienen 's tenure saw an increase in the number and quality of undergraduate applicants, continued expansion of the facilities and faculty, and renewed athletic competitiveness. In 1999, Northwestern student journalists uncovered information exonerating Illinois death-row inmate Anthony Porter two days before his scheduled execution. The Innocence Project has since exonerated 10 more men. On January 11, 2003, in
4928-681: The 57th mayor of Chicago. Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the southwestern shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. It is the principal city in the Chicago Metropolitan Area , situated in both the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region . The city rests on a continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds . In addition to it lying beside Lake Michigan, two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and
5040-749: The Center for Applied Physics and Superconducting Technologies (CAPST) and the Initiative at Northwestern for Quantum Information Research and Engineering (INQUIRE) have attracted attention in recent years. Northwestern's investment and collaboration areas include particle physics, quantum physics, quantum information technologies, and superconducting technologies. In 2013, Northwestern researchers disclosed 247 inventions, filed 270 patent applications, received 81 foreign and US patents, started 12 companies, and generated $ 79.8 million in licensing revenue. The Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO) has been involved in creating
5152-436: The Center for Developmental Therapeutics (CDT) and the Center for Device Development (CD2). Northwestern files hundreds of patents each year, ranking among the top 20 universities in the world in terms of U.S. utility patents. One of the university's most successful current patents is pregabalin, a synthesized organic molecule developed at the university by chemistry professor Richard Bruce Silverman (for whom Silverman Hall
5264-455: The Chicago River were devastated; by 1933 over 50% of industrial jobs in the city had been lost, and unemployment rates amongst blacks and Mexicans in the city were over 40%. The Republican political machine in Chicago was utterly destroyed by the economic crisis, and every mayor since 1931 has been a Democrat . From 1928 to 1933, the city witnessed a tax revolt, and the city was unable to meet payroll or provide relief efforts. The fiscal crisis
5376-641: The Deering family rescued the university budget with an unrestricted gift of $ 6 million, bringing the budget up to $ 5.4 million in 1938–39. This allowed many of the previous spending cuts to be restored, including half of the salary reductions. Like other American research universities, Northwestern was transformed by World War II (1939–1945). Regular enrollment fell dramatically, but the school opened high-intensity, short-term programs that trained over 50,000 military personnel, including future president John F. Kennedy . Northwestern's existing NROTC program proved to be
5488-544: The Early Decision application round. Northwestern's early decision admission numbers for the Class of 2027 reveal an early acceptance rate of about 20%, with approximately 1,000 students being admitted out of 5,220 applications. In April 2016, Northwestern became one of 15 Illinois universities to sign on to the Chicago Star Partnership, a City Colleges initiative aimed at increasing opportunities for students in
5600-539: The Evanston and Qatar campuses. Northwestern receives roughly $ 45 million per year to operate the campus. In February 2016, Northwestern reached an agreement with the Qatar Foundation to extend the operations of the NU-Q branch for an additional decade, through the 2027–2028 academic year. Northwestern is privately owned and governed by an appointed Board of Trustees , which is composed of 70 members and, as of 2022 ,
5712-620: The Evanston campus. In 2015, Queen Máxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands visited Northwestern to announce research collaborations between Northwestern and several Dutch institutions focused on the study of aging. In 2021, an additional $ 480 million, the largest donation in the university's history, was donated to Northwestern by the Ryan Family to be applied to research at the Kellogg School of Management and Feinberg School of Medicine , as well as for renovating Ryan Field . In
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#17331050028205824-726: The Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern, and the Argonne/Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center among other centers for interdisciplinary research. The university also shares collaborative research efforts with other universities such as the CZ Biohub Chicago with the University of Chicago and University of Illinois . In addition, Northwestern University cooperates with research institutions such as Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FermiLab) . Proceeding in cooperation with these laboratories,
5936-629: The McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, 14.3% in the School of Communication, 11.7% in the Medill School of Journalism, 5.7% in the Bienen School of Music, and 6.4% in the School of Education and Social Policy. The five most commonly awarded undergraduate degrees are economics, journalism, communication studies, psychology, and political science. The Kellogg School of Management's MBA ,
6048-527: The Mississippi River. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, a large section of the city at the time. Much of the city, including railroads and stockyards , survived intact, and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone. These set a precedent for worldwide construction. During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed
6160-912: The NAES College Digital Library Project, which preserves the NAES College library and archives. Northwestern was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1917 and is classified as an R1 university, denoting "very high" research activity. Northwestern's schools of management, engineering, and communication are among the most academically productive in the nation. The university received $ 923.8 million in research funding and $ 421 million in NIH funding in 2022 and houses over 90 school-based and 40 university-wide research institutes and centers. Northwestern also supports nearly 1,500 research laboratories across two campuses, predominantly in
6272-541: The School of Law's JD , and the Feinberg School of Medicine's MD are the three largest professional degree programs by enrollment. With 2,446 students enrolled in science, engineering, and health fields, the largest graduate programs by enrollment include chemistry, integrated biology, material sciences, electrical and computer engineering, neuroscience, and economics. Northwestern offers both traditional residence halls and residential colleges for students who share
6384-562: The South arrived in the city to work in the steel mills, railroads, and shipping yards. On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project . This led to the creation of the atomic bomb by the United States, which it used in World War II in 1945. Mayor Richard J. Daley ,
6496-721: The Technological Institute, Dearborn Observatory, the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Hall for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly, and the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center among others. South Campus is home to the university's humanities buildings, music buildings like the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall , the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art , and the sorority quads. In the 1960s,
6608-404: The United States after New York City and Los Angeles . As the seat of Cook County , the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area , often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan , Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and
6720-506: The United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis . The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago and sent west of the Mississippi River as part of the federal policy of Indian removal . On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 6,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as Receiver of Public Monies. The City of Chicago
6832-668: The United States of foreign parentage. Germans , Irish , Poles , Swedes , and Czechs made up nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population (by 1900, whites were 98.1% of the city's population). Labor conflicts followed the industrial boom and the rapid expansion of the labor pool, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike . Anarchist and socialist groups played prominent roles in creating very large and highly organized labor actions. Concern for social problems among Chicago's immigrant poor led Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr to found Hull House in 1889. Programs that were developed there became
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#17331050028206944-838: The academic year beginning in late September and ending in early June. Under the regular academic calendar, each quarter contains a four-day Reading Period in between the end of classes and the beginning of finals. Undergraduates typically take four courses each quarter and twelve courses in an academic year and are required to complete at least twelve quarters on campus to graduate. Northwestern offers honors, accelerated, and joint degree programs in medicine, science, mathematics, engineering, and journalism. The comprehensive doctoral graduate program has high coexistence with undergraduate programs. The most popular and prominent majors at Northwestern in 2021 include communication , journalism , engineering , computer science , mathematics , statistics , biological sciences , physics , and chemistry . It
7056-496: The administration protect freedom of speech , civil rights and be transparent with their investments moving forward. The university administration came to an agreement with the protestors which permited peaceful demonstrations, gave students representation on an investment committee and pledged to bring Palestinian students to campus. Northwestern University's main campus is located in the suburb of Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago. The campus spans an area of 240 acres and
7168-412: The city include the central business district, called the Loop , and the North, South , and West Sides . The three sides of the city are represented on the Flag of Chicago by three horizontal white stripes. The North Side is the most-densely-populated residential section of the city, and many high-rises are located on this side of the city along the lakefront. The South Side is the largest section of
7280-399: The city of Evanston, Illinois. The first building, Old College , opened on November 5, 1855. To raise funds for its construction, Northwestern sold $ 100 "perpetual scholarships" entitling the purchaser and his heirs to free tuition. Another building, University Hall , was built in 1869 of the same Joliet limestone as the Chicago Water Tower , also built in 1869, one of the few buildings in
7392-408: The city was affected by a series of tenant rent strikes , which lead to the formation of the Chicago Tenants Protective association, passage of the Kessenger tenant laws, and of a heat ordinance that legally required flats to be kept above 68 °F during winter months by landlords. Chicago was the first American city to have a homosexual-rights organization. The organization, formed in 1924,
7504-415: The city's first African American woman mayor and its first openly LGBTQ mayor, was elected to succeed Emanuel as mayor in 2019. All three city-wide elective offices were held by women (and women of color) for the first time in Chicago history: in addition to Lightfoot, the city clerk was Anna Valencia and the city treasurer was Melissa Conyears-Ervin . On May 15, 2023, Brandon Johnson assumed office as
7616-424: The city's first female mayor, was elected. She was notable for temporarily moving into the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project and for leading Chicago's school system out of a financial crisis. In 1983, Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. Washington's first term in office directed attention to poor and previously neglected minority neighborhoods. He was re‑elected in 1987 but died of
7728-616: The city's public school district. Through this partnership, the university provides scholarships to students who "graduate from Chicago Public Schools, get their associate degree from one of the city's community colleges, and then get admitted to a bachelor's degree program." The university is need-blind for domestic applicants. Northwestern is a large, residential research university . The university provides instruction in over 200 formal academic concentrations, 124 undergraduate programs, and 145 graduate and professional programs, including various dual degree programs. Although there
7840-439: The city, encompassing roughly 60% of the city's land area. The South Side contains most of the facilities of the Port of Chicago . Northwestern University Northwestern University ( NU ) is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois , United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory , it is the oldest chartered university in Illinois . The university has its main campus along
7952-407: The convention hall, with anti-war protesters, journalists and bystanders being beaten by police. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower , which in 1974 became the world's tallest building ), University of Illinois at Chicago , McCormick Place , and O'Hare International Airport , were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. In 1979, Jane Byrne ,
8064-601: The demolition of the architecturally significant Prentice Women's Hospital . Eric G. Neilson, dean of the medical school, penned an op-ed that equated retaining the building with loss of life. In Fall 2008, Northwestern opened a campus in Education City , Doha , Qatar . Through the Medill School of Journalism and School of Communication, NU-Q offers bachelor's degrees in journalism and communications respectively. However, some have questioned whether NU-Q can truly offer
8176-479: The district and forcing a shutdown of electrical power. The area was shut down for three days and some buildings did not reopen for weeks; losses were estimated at $ 1.95 billion. On February 23, 2011, Rahm Emanuel , a former White House Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives , won the mayoral election. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor on May 16, 2011, and won re-election in 2015. Lori Lightfoot ,
8288-531: The evidence-based reading and writing (EBRW) section of the SAT was 730–770 out of 800 while the interquartile range on the Math section of the SAT was 760–800 out of 800. ACT composite scores for the middle 50% ranged from 33 to 35 out of 36, and 96% ranked in the top ten percent of their respective high school classes. Approximately 35–40% percent of the incoming students of the Class of 2027 have been admitted through
8400-526: The fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding. During World War II , the city of Chicago alone produced more steel than the United Kingdom every year from 1939 – 1945, and more than Nazi Germany from 1943 – 1945. The Great Migration, which had been on pause due to the Depression, resumed at an even faster pace in the second wave , as hundreds of thousands of blacks from
8512-535: The first center of its kind at an American academic institution. J. Roscoe Miller 's tenure as president from 1949 to 1970 saw an expansion of the Evanston campus, with the construction of the Lakefill on Lake Michigan, growth of the faculty and new academic programs, and polarizing Vietnam-era student protests. In 1978, the first and second Unabomber attacks occurred at Northwestern University. Relations between Evanston and Northwestern became strained throughout much of
8624-627: The first university skyscraper in the United States. In addition to the Ward Building, Rogers designed Wieboldt Hall to house facilities for the School of Commerce and Levy Mayer Hall to house the School of Law. The new campus comprising these three new buildings was dedicated during a two-day ceremony in June 1927. The Chicago campus continued to expand with the addition of Thorne Hall in 1931 and Abbott Hall in 1939. In October 2013, Northwestern began
8736-533: The first woman graduated in 1874. Northwestern fielded its first intercollegiate football team in 1882, later becoming a founding member of the Big Ten Conference. In the 1870s and 1880s, Northwestern affiliated itself with already existing schools of law, medicine, and dentistry in Chicago. The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the oldest law school in Chicago. As the university's enrollments grew, these professional schools were integrated with
8848-552: The heart of Chicago to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In 1873 the Evanston College for Ladies merged with Northwestern, and Frances Willard , who later gained fame as a suffragette and as one of the founders of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), became the school's first dean of women ( Willard Residential College , built in 1938, honors her name). Northwestern admitted its first female students in 1869, and
8960-424: The idea; many Northwestern alumni, however, opposed it, fearing the loss of their alma mater and its many traditions that distinguished Northwestern from Chicago. The medical school, for example, was oriented toward training practitioners, and alumni feared it would lose its mission if it were merged into the more research-oriented University of Chicago Medical School . The merger plan was ultimately dropped. In 1935,
9072-416: The library affiliated with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary . Northwestern Libraries host a total of 8,198,268 printed or electronic volumes . In addition, its libraries contain 229,198 maps , 211,127 audio files , 103,377 printed journals , 196,716 electronic journals, 91,334 movies or videos, 36,989 manuscripts, 4.6 million microforms , and almost 99,000 periodicals . The University Library
9184-451: The lowest points are along the lake shore at 578 ft (176.2 m), while the highest point, at 672 ft (205 m), is the morainal ridge of Blue Island in the city's far south side. Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's waterfront. Some of the parks along the waterfront include Lincoln Park , Grant Park , Burnham Park , and Jackson Park . There are 24 public beaches across 26 miles (42 km) of
9296-796: The medical and biological sciences. Also, Northwestern houses more than 50 University Research Institutes & Centers (URICS), which consists of institutes and initiatives that combine multiple areas of study to pursue research across domains such as quantum information , policy research, bioelectronics , and more. Northwestern is home to the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, Northwestern Institute for Complex Systems, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, Materials Research Center, Center for Quantum Devices, Institute for Policy Research, International Institute for Nanotechnology, Center for Catalysis and Surface Science, Buffet Center for International and Comparative Studies,
9408-412: The movement toward state certification of school teachers prompted Northwestern to start a new graduate program in education, thereby bringing in new students and much-needed income. In June 1933, Robert Maynard Hutchins , president of the University of Chicago , proposed a merger of the two universities, estimating annual savings of $ 1.7 million. The two presidents were enthusiastic, and the faculty liked
9520-742: The original Patten Gymnasium , which was later demolished and relocated farther north, along with the Dearborn Observatory , to make room for the Technological Institute . After the golden years of the 1920s, the Great Depression in the United States (1929–1941) had a severe impact on the university's finances. Its annual income dropped 25 percent from $ 4.8 million in 1930–31 to $ 3.6 million in 1933–34. Investment income shrank, fewer people could pay full tuition, and annual giving from alumni and philanthropists fell from $ 870,000 in 1932 to
9632-532: The part-time MBA program, and the School of Professional Studies. Medill's one-year graduate program rents a floor on Wacker Drive, across the river from Streeterville and separate from the rest of the campus. Northwestern's professional schools and a number of its affiliated hospitals are located approximately four blocks east of the Chicago station on the CTA Red Line . The Chicago campus is also served by CTA bus routes. Founded or affiliated at varying points in
9744-433: The post-war era because of episodes of disruptive student activism, disputes over municipal zoning, building codes, and law enforcement, as well as restrictions on the sale of alcohol near campus until 1972. Northwestern's exemption from state and municipal property-tax obligations under its original charter has historically been a source of town-and-gown tension. Although government support for universities declined in
9856-498: The present location of Jackson Park . The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history. The University of Chicago , formerly at another location, moved to the same South Side location in 1892. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance , a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects
9968-542: The problem of sewage contamination was largely resolved when the city completed a major engineering feat. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that the water flowed away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. This project began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and was completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects to the Illinois River , which flows into
10080-462: The region is also the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of any urban region in the world, generating $ 689 billion in 2018. Chicago's economy is diverse , with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. Chicago is a major destination for tourism , including visitors to its cultural institutions , and Lake Michigan beaches . Chicago's culture has contributed much to
10192-633: The role of provost for the university on September 1, 2020. Students are formally involved in the university's administration through the Associated Student Government , elected representatives of the undergraduate students, and the Graduate Student Association, which represents the university's graduate students. The admission requirements, degree requirements, courses of study, and disciplinary and degree recommendations for each of Northwestern's 12 schools are determined by
10304-584: The runways. After successfully running for re-election five times, and becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley declined to run for a seventh term. In 1992, a construction accident near the Kinzie Street Bridge produced a breach connecting the Chicago River to a tunnel below, which was part of an abandoned freight tunnel system extending throughout the downtown Loop district. The tunnels filled with 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m ) of water, affecting buildings throughout
10416-596: The said place called "Chicagou" which, according to what we were able to learn of it, has taken this name because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region. The city has had several nicknames throughout its history, such as the Windy City , Chi-Town, Second City, and City of the Big Shoulders. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi , an indigenous tribe who had succeeded
10528-532: The shores of Lake Michigan in the Chicago metropolitan area . Chartered by the Illinois General Assembly in 1851, Northwestern was initially affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church but later became non-sectarian . By 1900, the university was the third-largest university in the United States . Northwestern became a founding member of the Big Ten Conference in 1896 and joined the Association of American Universities in 1917. Northwestern
10640-570: The steel industry in Chicago, but the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s reduced this number to just 28,000 in 2015. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement , which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders. Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention , which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside
10752-567: The undergraduate college in Evanston; the result was a modern research university combining professional, graduate, and undergraduate programs, which gave equal weight to teaching and research. By the turn of the century, Northwestern had grown in stature to become the third-largest university in the United States after Harvard University and the University of Michigan . Under Walter Dill Scott 's presidency from 1920 to 1939, Northwestern began construction of an integrated campus in Chicago designed by James Gamble Rogers , noted for his design of
10864-551: The unemployed. In the spring of 1937 Republic Steel Works witnessed the Memorial Day massacre of 1937 in the neighborhood of East Side. In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami, Florida , during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1933 and 1934, the city celebrated its centennial by hosting the Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair . The theme of
10976-605: The university created an additional 84 acres (34 ha) for the campus by filling in a portion of Lake Michigan . Buildings located on the resulting Lakefill include University Library, the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts, the Regenstein Hall of Music , Norris University Center (the student union), the Kellogg School of Management Global Hub, and various athletics facilities. The Chicago Transit Authority 's elevated train running through Evanston
11088-518: The university with the Methodist Episcopal Church, they favored a non-sectarian admissions policy, believing that Northwestern should serve all people in the newly developing territory by bettering the economy in Evanston . John Evans , for whom Evanston is named, bought 379 acres (153 ha) of land along Lake Michigan in 1853, and Philo Judson developed plans for what would become
11200-410: The university's history, the professional schools originally were scattered throughout Chicago. In connection with a 1917 master plan for a central Chicago campus and President Walter Dill Scott 's capital campaign, 8.5 acres (3.44 ha) of land were purchased at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Lake Shore Drive for $ 1.5 million in 1920. Architect James Gamble Rogers was commissioned to create
11312-625: The visual arts, literature , film, theater , comedy (especially improvisational comedy ), food , dance, and music (particularly jazz , blues , soul , hip-hop , gospel , and electronic dance music , including house music ). Chicago is home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago , while the Art Institute of Chicago provides an influential visual arts museum and art school . The Chicago area also hosts
11424-509: The voting members of that school's faculty ( assistant professor and above). Northwestern maintains an endowment of $ 16.1 billion, the eighth-largest university endowment among private universities in the United States . The endowment is sustained through donations and is maintained by investment advisers at the university's Investment Office. Chicago Campus Northwestern University's admissions are characterized as "most selective" by U.S. News & World Report . Northwestern received
11536-644: The waterfront. Landfill extends into portions of the lake providing space for Navy Pier , Northerly Island , the Museum Campus , and large portions of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Most of the city's high-rise commercial and residential buildings are close to the waterfront. An informal name for the entire Chicago metropolitan area is "Chicagoland", which generally means the city and all its suburbs, though different organizations have slightly different definitions. Major sections of
11648-525: The world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction. The city grew significantly in size and population by incorporating many neighboring townships between 1851 and 1920, with the largest annexation happening in 1889, with five townships joining the city, including the Hyde Park Township , which now comprises most of the South Side of Chicago and the far southeast of Chicago, and
11760-431: Was John H. Rauch, M.D. Rauch established a plan for Chicago's park system in 1866. He created Lincoln Park by closing a cemetery filled with shallow graves, and in 1867, in response to an outbreak of cholera he helped establish a new Chicago Board of Health. Ten years later, he became the secretary and then the president of the first Illinois State Board of Health, which carried out most of its activities in Chicago. In
11872-467: Was called the Society for Human Rights . It produced the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom . Police and political pressure caused the organization to disband. The Great Depression brought unprecedented suffering to Chicago, in no small part due to the city's heavy reliance on heavy industry. Notably, industrial areas on the south side and neighborhoods lining both branches of
11984-462: Was founded in 1837, most of the early building was around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks. The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of its overall natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation otherwise. The average land elevation is 579 ft (176.5 m) above sea level . While measurements vary somewhat,
12096-566: Was held in a purpose-built auditorium called the Wigwam . He defeated Douglas in the general election, and this set the stage for the American Civil War . To accommodate rapid population growth and demand for better sanitation, the city improved its infrastructure. In February 1856, Chicago's Common Council approved Chesbrough 's plan to build the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system. The project raised much of central Chicago to
12208-521: Was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, and for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city. As the site of the Chicago Portage , the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad , and the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on
12320-972: Was named). It was ultimately marketed as Lyrica , a drug sold by Pfizer , to combat epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and fibromyalgia. Northwestern has an extensive history of producing prominent businessmen and entrepreneurs. Companies founded by Northwestern alumni include Groupon , The Blackstone Group , Booz Allen Hamilton , U.S. Steel , Kirkland & Ellis , Guggenheim Partners , Accenture , Aon Corporation , and AQR Capital . The university also runs The Garage, and interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship space and community for student-run startups . The Garage provides students with resources and programming related to entrepreneurship and mentorship. The Garage houses approximately 90 student-founded startups per academic quarter. Its programs and resources are available to all Northwestern students. Northwestern enrolls more than 8000 undergraduate students and more than 8000 graduate students each year, as mentioned on
12432-455: Was repealed. The 1920s saw gangsters , including Al Capone , Dion O'Banion , Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo battle law enforcement and each other on the streets of Chicago during the Prohibition era . Chicago was the location of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when Al Capone sent men to gun down members of a rival gang, North Side, led by Bugs Moran. From 1920 to 1921,
12544-469: Was resolved by 1933, and at the same time, federal relief funding began to flow into Chicago. Chicago was also a hotbed of labor activism, with Unemployed Councils contributing heavily in the early depression to create solidarity for the poor and demand relief; these organizations were created by socialist and communist groups. By 1935 the Workers Alliance of America begun organizing the poor, workers,
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