Welcome, Archives blog enthusiasts and Urbana Sweetcorn Festival attendees! Below are the questions printed on the rally fans given away by the University Archives at the Festival this year, along with links to the answers. Enjoy!
Found in RS 39/2/20, ACT-7, May Fetes 1915
Continue reading “University of Illinois Fun Facts”
Aside from records related to the University and surrounding communities, the University of Illinois Archives is also custodian of the records of many outside associations. Among these are the records of the Ad Council, a long-running non-profit organization that works with advertising agencies, media companies, and private businesses to produce and distribute public service advertising. The Ad Council is directly or indirectly responsible for many memorable public service campaigns in print, radio, and television media. The longest-running of these is their Forest Fire Prevention campaign, featuring the well-known spokescharacter Smokey Bear. But do you know how this public safety icon came to be? Continue reading “Getting the Hat Right: The Untold Origin of Smokey Bear”
This post is part five of the exhibit “Epidemic! Disease on Campus, 1918-1938.”
In late February of 1938, cities and towns across the state of Illinois showed a marked increase in diagnosed smallpox cases. Ten victims appeared in the Twin Cities and the Director of the State Department of Health A.C. Baxter indicated an impending epidemic for Champaign-Urbana as a result of the new cases. Upon Baxter’s advice, President A.C. Willard directed that all students, faculty, and staff receive vaccination or remain away from campus for 16 days. Notices like the poster located to the right were placed throughout campus. Continue reading “Smallpox Outbreak, 1938”
This post is part four of the exhibit “Epidemic! Disease on Campus, 1918-1938.”
Despite the progress made controlling tuberculosis in the early 20th century, it was still the leading cause of death of adolescents and young adults through the 1930s. Champaign County documented 500 cases of tuberculosis and 75 deaths from tuberculosis in 1920 alone.[1] Continue reading “Tuberculosis Robs, Public Health Protects”
This post is part three of the exhibit “Epidemic! Disease on Campus, 1918-1938.”
From 1840 until 1883, scarlet fever became one of the most common infectious childhood diseases to cause death in the major metropolitan centers of Europe and the United States, with fatality rates that reached or exceeded 30% in some areas. Until the early 20th century, scarlet fever was a common condition among children. Though the disease did not reach the epidemic heights of the late 1800s at the University during Doctor Beard’s tenure, the Health Services Station dealt with yearly threats of a potential disaster. Continue reading ““The Scarlet Fever Germ is Neither Chivalrous nor Romantic””