March 10, 2022
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we remember Oct. 6, 1970, when Toledo native Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman, two pivotal and prominent voices of the 1960s-70s feminist movement, spoke on campus about Women’s Liberation as part of the 1970 Convocation Series. Steinem returned to UToledo in 1981, when the Peppers and Mortar Board invited her to speak at a Women in Motion event, and in 1993, when she received an honorary doctor of humane letters from the University.
March 3, 2022
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we pay tribute to Catharine Eberly, the namesake of the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women. Eberly graduated from UToledo in 1944 and, 30 years later, was appointed to serve a nine-year term on the Board of Trustees. In 1978 she helped establish a women’s center on campus. The following year, she died in a car accident at the age of 57. The center was named to honor her legacy on Dec. 7, 1980.
February 24, 2022
In this 1965 photo, a pair of UToledo employees work in front of the campus’ then-state-of-the-art computer, the IBM 1620 Data Processing System. Consisting of four machines, the system was the flagship of the University Computation Center. Purchased in 1962, the computer cost $114,120 — the 2022 equivalent of $1.02 million.
February 17, 2022
In this photo from 1968, Dr. Lancelot C.A. Thompson had just become The University of Toledo’s first vice president for student affairs, a position he held for two decades and one of many milestones in the chemistry professor’s trailblazing career at the University. In 1958, Thompson became the first African American full-time faculty member at the University, and also was the first Black faculty member to receive tenure. He went on to become the first African American vice president.
February 10, 2022
In 1917, during the height of World War I, these UToledo students took a “Ladies' Automobile Mechanics” class. Just as millions of men joined the war effort, women took their places on the home front.
October 28, 2021
A half-century ago on Halloween, a photographer at UToledo’s then-student newspaper, The Collegian, captured a photo of fans as part of the paper’s glowing review of Pink Floyd’s Oct. 31, 1971, concert at The Field House, now known as Memorial Field House.
July 29, 2021
With the enhancement to Centennial Mall underway, we’re looking back to this Throwback Thursday moment, circa 1980, not long after the completion of the Main Campus centerpiece. Decades and millions of footsteps later, Centennial Mall is getting a makeover to add more green space by decreasing the amount of pavement and replacing sidewalks to improve safety.
April 1, 2021
In this undated Throwback Thursday photo from decades ago, dozens and dozens of UToledo students gather along the Ottawa River and the river’s shoreline to watch and cheer teams of rowers on homemade rafts compete in timed races in Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Great Raft Regatta. The once-annual event began in 1974 and was part of a slew of Spring Week activities through the 1970s and into the ’80s.
March 11, 2021
As the Rockets enter the 2021 MAC tournament as the No. 1 seed, we remember the 1980 team that was the last men's basketball team invited to the NCAA tournament. The team lost a close game to Florida State, 94-91, in the opening round of the tournament. In a photo from that game are, from left, Harvey Knuckles, Jim Swaney and Mitch Adamek.
March 4, 2021
In celebration of Women’s History Month through March, we honor Mary M. Gillham, UToledo librarian for nearly 50 years, beginning with her appointment in 1921 while still a University student. In August 1971, the building that housed the library at that time was renamed Gillham Hall. Gillham died in 1986 at the age of 86. This photo of a smiling Gillham sitting at her desk, surrounded by stacks of her beloved books, was taken circa 1963.
