Illini 411: If you could time travel through U. of I. history, where would you go?

Question courtesy of Beth Watkins, ’96 LAS, MSLIS ’02

collage of old campus images (Images courtesy of Illini Media; UIAA)
Question courtesy of Beth Watkins, ’96 LAS, MSLIS ’02

A: Oh, wow! The possibilities have my orange-and-blue blood pumping like it’s the middle of basketball season! If the folks north of Green Street ever figure this out, the first place I’d visit would be the Quad on a June day in 1920, back when elm trees lined the sidewalks and the canopy was so thick with shade that you couldn’t see the sun. But I wouldn’t head straight back. I would stick around for a few months, get myself a job writing for The Daily Illini and cover the dedication of the Altgeld Chimes that October (under a pseudonym, of course; I wouldn’t want to leave evidence of my travels and cause a rift in the space-time continuum). Then, I’d come back to the present: a century older, but probably not much wiser.

Have questions about U. of I. history, traditions and legends?

Write to Illini 411 at rross2@uillinois.edu. The most delectable questions will be selected for publication.

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