North Park University History and Heritage

North Park’s History: Enlightened Hearts, Warmed Intellects

North Park University’s history and heritage reach back to a Minneapolis church basement in 1891, where classes in language and 业务 gave Swedish immigrants the skills needed to prosper in America. 芝加哥的一块地, the school moved to the North Park neighborhood which was then just beyond the city limits. Old Main, the first building on campus, was completed in 1894. Its cupola became a landmark for pilots to locate Orchard Field (now O’Hare International Airport). The cupola was the tallest point on the city’s north side. 在历史上的不同时期, 北公园是一所学院, 大专院校, 还有一所四年制文理学院. We became a university, with a theological seminary, in 1997.

Now, North Park is 芝加哥’s city-centered Christian University. It serves nearly 3,200 undergraduate and graduate students from around the country and the world. 在一个多样化的, 紧密的社区, it offers a values-based 教育 to students through more than 40 undergraduate majors, as well as graduate and continuing 教育 in 业务, 非营利组织管理, 护理, 教育, 音乐, 和神学. Campus facilities have been extensively renovated, including the LEED-certified Johnson Center for Science and 社区生活, 海威格娱乐中心, 霍姆格伦运动中心, 以及布兰德尔图书馆.

培养大知识分子 & 伟大的心

North Park has grown from a humble, immigrant institution to a cosmopolitan University. 通过巨大的变化和转变, a single mission has persisted: a community where “great intellects are warmed by great hearts, and great hearts are enlightened by great intellects.”

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移民机构

成立于1891年, the origins of the University are rooted in 19th-century immigration from Sweden, the faith traditions carried from the homeland and established in a new world, and the 教育al needs of an immigrant denomination, 今天的福音派圣约教会.

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扎根

The first quarter-century was encompassed by challenge, growth, and transition. 芝加哥的课程于1894年开始, 全部在五个系:神学院, 音乐, 业务, 学院, 和主.

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美国化

当第一次世界大战开始时, first- and second-generation immigrants made up one-third of the American population. By 1917, College courses were taught entirely in English with English textbooks.

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扩张

The Second World War transformed the country, the Covenant Church, and North Park. Servicemen and women who took advantage of the G.I. Bill increased enrollment and led to growth.

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“动荡的时代”

North Park graduated its first four-year college class in May 1960. Concern over the challenges of the country found clear expression at North Park, 学生们在抗议, 游行, 呼唤正义. The 1960s also brought new buildings and the College’s first faculty member of color, L. 罗杰·邦西,前美国国防部长.N. 员工.

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国际化大学

In 1980, 面对邻里衰落, North Park considered relocating to donated land in Lake County. A unanimous decision was made to remain in its present location citing the recognition “that our urban location has been instrumental to the quality of 教育 our people receive.” The decision was motivated by concern for the vitality of the community and represented a commitment to reinvesting in the neighborhood’s revitalization.

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学生体验

Within the very first year of the school’s founding, 学生们组织了一个四重奏, 文学的社会, 学生论文. 从一开始, student societies and publications have cultivated student leadership and promoted engagement—from the women’s society Nopaco (1913) to the Black Student Association (1969) and today’s Faith and Justice Club.

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Images here are from the Historical Photograph Collection of North Park University 档案. Copyright of the images are managed by the Covenant 档案 and Historical 图书馆 at North Park University or we have been unable to identify the copyright holder.

档案 Quasquicentennial书