McKinlock Campus Poster Now Hangs in Galter Library
When Al Cubbage, vice president for University Relations at Northwestern University, noticed the colorful poster in a downtown Chicago gallery, he knew right away that it should hang somewhere on the University’s Chicago campus. Cubbage made arrangements to acquire the poster, and James Shedlock, director of the Galter Health Sciences Library at the Feinberg School of Medicine, gladly accepted it.
What makes the 1923 poster special is its depiction of the McKinlock Campus of Northwestern University, based on architectural drawings. The naming of the University’s Chicago campus never was realized because Chicago businessman George McKinlock lost his money in the Great Depression. He couldn’t fulfill a pledge to help build the Chicago campus in memory of his son, Alexander, and Northwestern forgave the debt. The McKinlock Gate, which originally stood on the corner of Lake Shore Drive and Chicago Ave, now stands one block south.
With artistic license, the poster’s creator located the George R. Thorne Hall, which originally stood a block away, right in front of the Ward Building and added the phrase “by the elevated lines” even though the el tracks are several blocks away.
The McKinlock Campus poster hangs in the Learning Resources Center, on the first floor of the Galter Library.
