Published to commemorate the Deering Library’s 75th anniversary, this book explores the Deering and McCormick families, who funded the project; the building’s distinctive Collegiate Gothic architecture; its lore as a campus institution; and its role in the evolution of Northwestern University Library into one of the country’s most prominent research libraries. Richly illustrated, it is both an authoritative account of a landmark library and a rich keepsake for Northwestern alumni.

Northwestern University: A History is a resplendent guide to the origins and development of this university. Writer and critic Jay Pridmore offers the definitive chronicle of Northwestern’s establishment—from its founders’ struggle to erect a campus in the wilderness on Lake Michigan’s western shore to its contemporary status as “an institution of the highest order” with three thriving campuses, esteemed faculty and students, and a leading endowment.

Accompanied by a wealth of color photographs, ephemera, and archival material, Northwestern University: A History brings to the fore the storied traditions and contributions of the administrators, faculty, and alumni who built Northwestern into the world-class institution it is today. 

Originally penned to commemorate the university’s sesquicentennial, this new edition charts Northwestern’s evolution in the years of Henry Bienen’s presidency (1995–2009) and offers a new foreword by current president Morton O. Schapiro. Northwestern University: A History captures the rich panoply of the institution’s rise to the first ranks of scholastic excellence and will delight students, their families, and alumni alike.