Levy Mayer Hall and the Gary Library
Following MacChesney’s 1915 proposal, the Law School’s trustees, administrators, and faculty members worked to realize the vision for a new campus for Northwestern’s professional schools. MacChesney and John Henry Wigmore, then dean of the Law School, advocated for a campus located near Chicago’s Loop, providing easy access to vocational opportunities and transportation for all professional students. Moreover, Law students would benefit from maintaining proximity to the courts.
Trustees and business administrators first considered purchasing the plot of land at Chicago Avenue and Lake Shore Drive in 1917; however, the official land acquisition did not occur until 1920. World War I contributed to this delay, as MacChesney and Wigmore both served.
Image: Levy Mayer Hall entrance, unknown date. From the Pritzker Legal Research Center Special Collections, Chicago, IL.
Image: “Plot Plan, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, Alexander McKinlock Memorial Campus” by architect James Gamble Rogers.
From: Northwestern University, Dedication of the Alexander McKinlock Memorial Campus and Ground Breaking Ceremonies [pamphlet], 1925.
A Campaign for the Future
Northwestern Law launched a major fundraising campaign in anticipation of this relocation. With the $1,500,000 Endowment and Building Fund initiative, the Law School asked its alumni to invest in the school’s future by funding an expanded curriculum, a legal clinic, and adequate space to accommodate their growing needs. This campaign raised $200,000, a generous amount that nevertheless fell short of the “million and a half” goal.
Image: Northwestern University Law School, Seven Points of Chicago’s Need for an Endowment for Legal Research and Service to the Community [pamphlet], 1920, front cover.
Fortunately, two major benefactors stepped in to make the Law School’s vision a reality. In 1922, alumnus, judge, and founder of U.S. Steel Elbert H. Gary (‘67) donated a $100,000 endowment for the law library; two years later, he pledged an additional $150,000 for the construction of a building to house it. In 1923, Rachel Mayer contributed $500,000 for the construction of the new law building, a gift in memory of her late husband, prominent Chicago lawyer Levy Mayer.
Image: Photograph of attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony for the McKinlock campus, May 8, 1925.
From: Northwestern University, The Fifteenth Anniversary of the Chicago Campus, 1941, unpaginated.
Figures in photograph, left to right: Mrs. Levy Mayer, Mrs. George R. Thorne, Mrs. Montgomery Ward, President Walter Dill Scott, Mrs. George A. McKinlock, Mr. George A. McKinlock, Mrs. W. A. Wieboldt, Mr. W. A. Wieboldt, and Judge Elbert H. Gary.
Architectural Character
The Law School officially moved from the Northwestern University Building to its new quarters in Levy Mayer Hall and the Gary Library in December 1926. These connected buildings formed a U-shape at the easternmost point on the Chicago campus. Although architect James Gamble Rogers designed the professional school buildings in a cohesive, Gothic-inspired style, he tailored the appearance of each building to reflect its area of study. In a 1927 article for Architecture magazine, Rogers contrasted the more “scientific” appearance of the medical school and the “businesslike” features of the School of Commerce to the “most imposing” nature of Levy Mayer Hall and the Gary Library, highlighting the weight of the law.
Image: “Alexander McKinlock Memorial Campus, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.” [postcard].
From the Pritzker Legal Research Center Special Collections, Chicago, IL.
Images: “Northwestern University Law School, Chicago, Ill. (Levy Mayer Hall” [postcard], drawing by architectural artist Schell Lewis, ca. 1923; photograph of Levy Mayer Hall, 1956.
From the Pritzker Legal Research Center Special Collections, Chicago, IL.
This character continued throughout the building’s interior, particularly in the design of Lincoln Hall, a courtroom-like classroom designed to evoke the House of Commons in London. Other spaces paid homage to the rooms and namesakes established in the Northwestern University Building, including classrooms Booth, Hoyne, and Hurd Halls, and the lounge area Lowden Hall.
Image: An early photograph of Lincoln Hall, undated. From the Pritzker Legal Research Center Special Collections, Chicago, IL.