Younger than springtime

Students enjoy an enchanted evening in the Loop in the early 1950s (UChicago Photographic Archive, apf4-02165, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library)

Bookstacks

In June 1920 holdings from the John Crerar Library await the shelves of their new home. The library, which opened in April 1897, was originally located in the Marshall Field building on North Wabash Avenue but later moved to a new location on East Randolph Street. The Crerar Library merged with the University of Chicago in 1984, but before that it was a privately endowed public library established by Chicago businessman John Crerar after his death in 1889. Crerar left few guidelines about the kinds of books and periodicals he wanted there—just that “all nastiness and immorality be excluded.” But he went so far as to add this: “I mean that dirty French novels and all skeptical trash and works of questionable moral tone shall never be found in this Library.” To distinguish its collections from the arts-and-humanities-focused Newberry Library and the Chicago Public Library’s general interest collections, the Crerar Library prioritized holdings related to the sciences and technology. (Photography by Chicago Architectural Photographing Company, UChicago Photographic Archive, apf2-01945, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library)

Little boxes made of ticky-tacky

At the Laboratory Schools in 1951, Olga Adams’s (PhB 1924, AM 1932) kindergarten class builds a cardboard city as part of a city planning unit. After construction was completed, the students filled the buildings with furniture and played in the structures. (Photography by Mildred LaDue Mead, UChicago Photographic Archive, apf2-09524, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library)

Trivial pursuit

From left, UChicagoans Neal Johnston, AB’60; Roger Downey, EX’59; Leonard Friedman, AB’63; and Elliot Lilien, AB’61, compete in the General Electric College Bowl in December 1959. The show was hosted by Allen Ludden (far right) and aired on CBS. In each episode, two colleges or universities—one a returning champion—competed in a 24-minute trivia contest with questions such as “What president said, ‘I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor’?” and “If you heard someone refer to the Arlberg method, would he be talking about biological research, Willie Mays’s batting stance, or a ski technique?” The Maroons bested the University of Miami in their first matchup but lost to the University of Kansas in their second. Nevertheless, they took home $2,000 in scholarship and grant money for the University and got to enjoy “two week-ends of New York luxury,” as this magazine put it. (UChicago Photographic Archive, apf1-10634, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library)

Seventies salon

Math professor Izaak Wirszup, PhD’55 (seated in the white chair), and his wife, lecturer in Russian Pera Wirszup (standing, center), longtime resident masters in Woodward Court, chat with students over drinks in 1971. Did you spend time with the Wirszups while you were on campus? Share a story at uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu. (Photography by Sandi Kronquist, UChicago Photographic Archive, apf1-11450, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library)

Monsters of the Midway

Nick Varsam, AB’83 (front right), shared this photograph of his intramural (IM) football team celebrating on the Midway around November 1980. “I believe we were only one pitcher of beer into our IM football championship celebration,” Varsam writes. Other team members pictured here include Larry Wilt, AB’84; Craig Peters, EX’83; Charles Episalla, AB’83; Kenny Davis, AB’83; Larry Mendelsohn, AB’83; Krikor Topouzian, AB’82; and Barry Peterson, AB’83. Did you play intramural sports at UChicago? Throw us a memory at uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu. (Photo courtesy Nick Varsam, AB’83)

Democratic discussions

Fourth-year Renato Mariotti, AB’98, introduces former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell at the Challenge of Modern Democracy conference in April 1998. The three-day conference, which Mariotti co-organized with classmate Rohit “Ro” Khanna, AB’98—now a member of Congress (D-CA)—also featured speakers including former Haitian president Jean- Bertrand Aristide and CNN anchor Bernard Shaw. Who was the most memorable politician you heard speak on campus? Tell us about it at uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu. (Photography by Dave O., Copyright 2026, The Chicago Maroon. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.)

Have photos from your UChicago days? The Magazine may be able to share them in Alumni News and in a future Snapshots. Send high-resolution scans and your memories of what the pictures are about to uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu.