University of Chicago

We spent the night of 10 April in the Hilton on Michigan Ave.
A very fine and well appointed hotel.
Upon the recommendation of the concierge we had supper at the nearby Tamarind Chinese restaurant.
An excellent choice, tasty well pepared food and very good service at a moderate price.

Thursday morning (after breakfast) we took the hotel shuttle to the University of Chicago Campus.
The shuttle left us off at the eastern end of the main quadrangle. (58th St and University Ave.)
From there we walked to Ida Noyes Hall, where the main visit orientation was set up.
It began to drizzle, then rain. Rain jackets were very useful over the next 2 days, as it drizzled on and off during the whole 2 day visit.

A rough sketch map showing some of the buildings in the main campus area.
Map is oriented with North to top.

Official Campus Map a pdf file on U. Chicago website.

Inside Ida Noyes Hall where the prospective students got organized.

This table was covered with a table cloth when it was used to support coffee urns for service when we arrived.
It was drizzling and cold out. The coffee was excellent.
This photo taken in the afternoon... showing the glory of the table.

In the Year of Our Lord 1910 was done The Masque of Youth in Dedication of Ida Noyes Hall
Inside the upper room at Ida Noyes - dedicated in 1910.
This is the room where the introductory talk on financial aid was delivered.

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The turn of the century building is highly decorated.
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Rockefeller Chapel
as much a meeting place as a place of worship.
It faces on to 59th Street.(which means it faces South)

Stained glass detail at top of the window behind the altar. Very non-sectarian.
Inside Chapel pictures taken on the 2nd day. The address in here was the last event of the formal visit.

Looking up the Main Quadrangle.
Facing West, the photographers back is to the intersection where 58th Street terminates into the Quadrangle central walkway.

Ryerson Hall - North side of Main Quadrangle next to Eckhart.

looking North from the middle of the Main Quad.
in the distance you can see Hull Court Gate and the Cobb Gate
The Regenstein Library is located through the gate and across 57th Street.
The Biology Pond is a distance down and to the right

The Hull Court Gate from the south side.

Cobb Gate from South side - Anatomy on left, Zoology on the right

The Cobb Gate north side - looking South from the front of the Regenstein Library
On the left the Zoology building, on the right the Anatomy building

Hull Biological Laboratories
The North side of the Cobb Gate

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some of the guardians of the Cobb Gate

57th Street looking West
on Left - Cobb Gate, Anatomy, New Hospital Pavilion in distance
on right Regenstein Library, Mansueto Library, Biopsychical Research, Knapp Center on the right.

The Regenstein Library
Looking North across 57th Street from the Cobb Gate.

The entrance to the Mansueto Library is within the Regenstein Library
down a hall, then through a glass hall.

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The books are stored below and are accessed by robots upon request using a computer terminal.

The Mansueto Library has a book conservation work area.
The library contains some truly ancient volumes, as well as modern books.

SE corner of Regenstein Library on left, Max Palevsky Residential Commons with blue roof in middle, West side of Bartlett Commons on right.

West side of Bartlett Commons.

Bartlett Commons - east face. This building built in 1901.
It is located on the NW corner of 57th Street and University Avenue just East of the Regentstin Library

light on E. side of Bartlett

Pierce Hall - 55th Street and University Ave.

South side of Pierce Hall which is on the northern edge of the campus.
Pierce is scheduled to be replaced in the next few years.

West side of Pierce Hall.
Joseph and I met here to have lunch on Thursday.
They have cafeteria style eating with many delicious selections.
The long tables are more-or-less grouped by house.

The library in Harper Hall, off the Main Quadrangle, backing to 59th Street.
Over the door it says Arley D. Cathy Learning Center.
picture taken while on an official parents tour of the campus on Friday

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first floor - - - Kersten Physics Teaching Center one of the newer buildings - opened in 1985 - - - second floor
also on the tour.
From there we proceeded West to the Regenstein Library then turned right (North) past the colorful Max Palevsky Residential Commons with blue roof
and throug the N-S passage through the middle public passage area of the Bartlett Commons residence, then turned right and headed back to Ida Noyes.

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Part of the great medical center on Campus.

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The Robie House, designed by American Architect Frank Lloyd Wright

Robie House from south. It is located on the NE corner of Woodward Ave and 58th Street.
A large several story building adjacent to the house diminishes its impact.

The Charles H. Harper Center - the graduate business school resides here.
It is south across the street from the Robie House.

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The Oriental Institute - and Museum

The museum of the Oriental Institute is a delighful place.
The cost of entry is by donation.
The definition of Oriental in this case is that area which is now called the Near East of Middle East
including Egypt, SE Turkey (Hitite civiliation), Persia, and Iraq - the Tigrus-Euphrates civilizations.
Much of the collection seems to have been acquired in the mid to late 1920s.
Interestingly the fictitious character, Indiana Jones, was said to have gradtuated from U. Chicago.

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- - - more later - pictures coming - - -

Downtown Chicago - The building with the big verdigris green decorations at the top is
the Harold Washington Public Library - the main public library for the city of Chicago Library System.

We were not looking for the library as we walked downtown, just found it as we walked by.
It was only about 10 minutes before closing, so we had a blitz look at some of the first floor.
I had the opportunity to see it years ago, just a few weeks after it opened.
It was a featured tour at the American Library Association Conference which was in Chicago that year.

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External architectural details - Harold Washington Public Library

First Floor library hallway

Public Library first floor popular materials room.

The ~ L ~ the elevated passenger train which has served Chicago for many years.

Our downtown hotel. Looks rather plain outside but is very nice inside.

The view out our hotel window. The ~ L ~ in the middle. You could hear it rumbling as it went past.

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We left the hotel about 4 AM Saturday morning, taking a taxi to OHare Airport.
We left early to make sure we made our very early flight.
We had a stop in Houston, then on in a smaller airplane to McAllen, arriving about Noon.