Bengt Strömgren, Danish astronomer, astrophysicist, and director of Yerkes Observatory (1951-1957), an observatory managed by UChicago in Wisconsin. Photograph taken at the 7th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union held in Zürich, Switzerland, August 11-18, 1948.

Caitlin P, AB ‘07, sent in this amazing vintage photo of her grandfather, Hal James (and friends) in front of what is now Alumni House (he’s third from the left in the first row. He graduated with a philosophy degree in 1933, and went on to become a Tony-award-winning Broadway producer. 

If you’re an alum or current student who wants to submit a photo, feel free to email it to us at tumblr@uchicago.edu! 

We’d like to imagine a love story between these two folks, photographed on campus in the mid ’60s. Who are they? Where are they going? Potential answer: models, strolling a gorgeous neo-gothic campus and using it as a backdrop for their photoshoot. Likely answer: nerds, probably going to the library. 

Choristers in Rockefeller Chapel, undated. 

We sent a couple pairs of our glasses back in time just for these lovely ladies. 

Shattuck, Balzer, Mather, Holtz, Walrath, Zimmerman, and Henderson: the University of Chicago Divinity School Basketball Team, 1913. 

Imagined conversations from bygone times

“YOLO!!!!!!!!!”

calumet412:

Physical Education class, University of Chicago, 1946, Chicago.

UChicago men’s gymnastics, 1939. They learned it from the coach. 

As a few current students know, and most alumni are happy to forget, Bartlett Dining Hall was once a gymnasium. 

The inauguration of University of Chicago president Robert Maynard Hutchins, 1929. 

Back in the good old days, Bartlett Dining Commons used to be a gymnasium.