| Address | 1020 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL |
|---|---|
| Built | 1930-31 |
| Architect | Joseph W McCarthy |
| Status | Designated Chicago Landmark |
| Designation Date | December 13, 2006 (Final)City Council Journal of the Proceedings, p. 94933 |
| Neighborhood | Rogers Park |
| Type | School and education |
| Landmark ID | L-36 |
Interior spaces protected by this designation
- All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the building The first-floor entrance vestibule, main corridor, central staircase up to the second-floor landing, and historic fixtures and finishes, including, but not necessarily limited to, marble floors and walls, light fixtures, elevator and corridor doors, and decorative grilles.
Mundelein College Skyscraper Building, Preliminary Summary of Information, p. 23.
Direct quotes from the Chicago Landmark Designation Report
“Today, Loyola University Chicago is the largest institution and employer in the Rogers Park neighborhood. The Mundelein College Skyscraper Building remains an important visual "landmark" for the thousands of Chicagoans that pass by the building on Sheridan Road daily.”
“The earliest colleges in the United States, both before and immediately after independence, were formed to educate young men. It was only in the post-Civil War era that co-educational state universities were established under the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862.”
“By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, Catholic women's colleges began to be established throughout the United States to provide Catholic-oriented educations to young women. Early examples included Notre Dame, a Baltimore secondary school that expanded its curriculum to include college courses in 1896, and Trinity College in Washington, D.C., the first Catholic institution formed specifically for the higher education of women which opened in 1900.”
“Ignatius College by the Jesuit order. The first Catholic college for women in the Chicago area was Rosary College, founded in 1922 in the western suburb of River Forest.”
“Decidedly a day school. It is the first women's college in the city. The time is ripe now for a progressive Community like ours to make it the leading College in the city.”
“He opened his own office in 1911. His first commission was for Corpus Christi Church at 49th St. and Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and it became one of the first consecrated by Cardinal Mundelein in 1916 after he took office.”
“Proceeds from student events were invested in war bonds. Mundelein College became a training center for women recruits to military service. The first Midwest college unit of the American Red Cross was started at Mundelein.”
“Anew dormitory, Coffey Hall, was built in 1961, and the college purchased additional properties near the original skyscraper building. Mundelein's curriculum combined the classical arts and sciences with the practical arts of business and home economics while stressing traditional respect for clergy, personal piety and social action.”
“The Mundelein College Skyscraper Building displays excellent physical integrity and today its exterior and first-floor vestibule and main corridor stand almost unchanged from their original 1931 appearance. The building retains its historic site and relationship to the surrounding Rogers Park and Edgewater community areas, as well as its historic overall exterior design, building materials, and most detailing.”
“In Chicago, the Montgomery Ward Memorial Building, built for Northwestern University's Near North Side campus, was called the "nation's first Collegiate Gothic skyscraper" upon its completion in 1926.”