ABSTRACT
For several years there had been agitation to establish a branch of the University of Illinois in Chicago. The main campus was at Urbana-Champaign, in the central part of the state, 130 miles south of Chicago. The private colleges and universities in and around Chicago were, to say the least, cool to the idea. Merchants and other business interests in Urbana and Champaign were also much opposed to a Chicago branch. The Chicago metropolitan area was growing fast, and a recent reapportionment had given it control of the House of Representatives. In 1948 the University prepared an "inventory of needs" which totaled $100 million without providing anything for Chicago, In 1953, however, there was a change in the University's administration. In 1957 the chairman was Edward Eagle Brown, a benign but stubborn old gentleman who was chairman of the board of the First National Bank of Chicago.
