headshot portrait of middle-aged woman with glasses

Talk: An Illini Place: The Quad, by Author Lex Tate

Have you ever wondered how the University of Illinois Quad came to be? On Thursday, October 19, at 4:00 pm, the Spurlock Museum will debut its Third Thursday lecture series with An Illini Place: The Quad by Lex Tate. This talk is held in conjunction with the Museum’s temporary exhibit Knowledge at Work: The University of Illinois at 150.

Finding the best location for a proposed turn-of-the-century auditorium morphed into a full-blown campus plan that defined the Urbana-Champaign campus's most noteworthy space and more. Meet a brilliant new president, a committee of creatives and a renowned architect, all players in conjuring the campus's first formal master plan that yielded not only the Quad, but ambitiously sited buildings and gardens from University Avenue to today's Taft Drive. This presentation is drawn from An Illini Place: Building the University of Illinois Campus by Lex Tate and John Franch, published by the U of I Press in May.

Black and White photo of south campus, looking northwest. Foellinger and Observatory visible.
An early image of the Foellinger Auditorium. Image courtesy of the University of Illinois Archives.

Knowledge at Work

Knowledge at Work: The University of Illinois at 150 explores the history of campus as a community of educators, researchers, and students that values learning, research, and public service. Learn about the contributions of a wide variety of people and groups to campus history and ways the University has changed how it relates to the people it serves. The exhibit runs through December 21, 2018. 

Contact

For further information on this event, contact Beth Watkins at or (217) 265-5485

All participants are welcome. To request disability-related accommodations for this event, please contact Brian Cudiamat at or (217) 244-5586.