WEEK XIV

Loyola Passes the Test(in)

This past semester, a group and I have been working on a digital exhibit about the Loyola History Department for our final project. With the loss of full access to the archives thanks to an extra-long Corona-induced Spring Break, our vision has changed over the past few weeks. We have finally decided to focus on similarities between the current online class situation and the Loyola Home Study Division, particularly as it existed just after WWII. 

Part of the research for this project took me to the Loyola Digital Archives, which include high-quality scans of many historic yearbooks. I was very excited to find the familiar face of my grandfather, Jim Testin, featured as a sophomore in the 1950 yearbook.

Both of my paternal grandparents and one of my great uncles attended Loyola in the 1950s at Lewis Towers, which is a part of the Water Tower Campus today. 

Grandpa and his brother were commuter students from Glen Ellyn, a suburb just west of the city. Grandpa studied accounting and Great Uncle Bob studied psychiatry. They chose Loyola over the University of Illinois because tuition was less expensive at Loyola (imagine that!) and they were able to live at home. My grandpa worked in the grocery department of Jewel during college to pay his tuition, and was hired in the accounting department of Jewel after graduation. 

Grandma commuted from the Northwest side of the city and earned her degree in elementary education. She taught at a local Chicago school for a couple of years after graduation. Unfortunately, the digital archives are incomplete, so I was not able to find pictures of my grandma or great uncle in the yearbooks.

I emailed my grandparents the picture of Grandpa and link to the 1950 yearbook. I received in turn, a reiteration of all the stories I have heard about my grandparents’ glory days at Loyola over the years. From my great uncle’s antics in English class to nights at the Cloverleaf bar, swimming in the old Illinois Women’s Athletic Club pool to Friday morning Mass, the mythos of Loyola that has been passed down to me inspired my college decision nearly 70 years after theirs. 

The central structure in all of these stories is the “inverted mine shaft” that is Lewis Towers. Afterall, it was in a Zoology class in this building that my grandparents met. (They still recommend a biology minor to anyone looking for love…). 

8 kids and 21 grandkids later, someone finally decided to carry on the Loyola legacy. I have followed in my grandparents’ footsteps by attending their alma mater, and have thus secured my spot as favorite grandchild. 😉

Last fall, I took my grandparents on a virtual walk around the Lake Shore and Water Tower Campuses, even before video chatting was cool. It is incredible how the little commuter school my grandparents attended has expanded into the institution it is today. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the Chicago my grandparents knew through the eyes of a Loyola student for a semester and a half, and hope to continue discovering the city in the fall.