Taft Campus
Leslie A. Holmes proposed a "field campus" for Northern Illinois Teachers College in his inaugural address as president in 1948. On August 7, 1951 Illinois Governor Adlai E. Stevenson II signed a bill into law which transferred ownership of a 66-acre (27 ha) section of Lowden State Park to the college, now Northern Illinois University (NIU). The land encompassed the former 15-acre (6.1 ha) site of the Eagle's Nest Art Colony and its buildings, the Black Hawk Statue was not included in the land transfer. The campus was named after Lorado Taft and is now known as the NIU Lorado Taft Field Campus.
The buildings of the art colony, long neglected, were restored under the supervision of Paul Harrison, a professor at the college. By 1954 work was completed on the Browne House, Poley Hall (also known as the Camp House), and the Taft House. Harrison then served as field campus director from 1954–65. In October 1965 the campus was augmented by the addition of 71 acres (29 ha).
Read more about this topic: Eagle's Nest Art Colony
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