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One hundred twenty-nine years of Spanish at the University of Illinois
By Professor Mariselle Meléndez

In the midst of a pandemic, reflecting about the past offers us an opportunity to travel back in time and learn how academic institutions have subsisted throughout historical challenges and unexpected crises. As a Head of the department, and also as a researcher of the distant past, I embarked on the fascinating task of digging into the history of my own department to learn about the many changes that my unit has gone through in its efforts to educate students, produce innovative research and teaching, and engage with the community. Spanish at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), has a one hundred twenty-nine-year history, which would be difficult to sum up here. However, I invite you to learn about its beginnings. You will see that in spite of all the historical changes that we have witnessed, a sustained commitment to foster creative knowledge to better educate our students and future leaders has been a trademark from its inception.

Our university began to offer Spanish courses in 1891 under what was known as the School of English and Modern Languages. Spanish was taught in alternate years taking turns with Italian.  In 1893, Spanish became part of what was named that year the Department of the Romance Languages and Literature. The first course was offered by Rev. Misael Rama Paradis and it consisted of selected readings, composition, and conversational exercises. This marked the beginning of an increased interest in the study of Spanish at UIUC which extended to classes on “Grammar and Reading” as well as “Cervantes’ Don Quijote.” By 1908 the offerings extended to “Conversation and Composition,” “Advanced Readings and Compositions” which was taught with an emphasis on Spanish drama and poetry, and also a course on “Phonetics and Syntax.” Arthur R. Seymour who had a M.L. was listed as the instructor of record for the majority of these courses.

In 1908 as Spanish courses increased, the Centro Literario Español was created. The club was a type of tertulia composed of Latin American students and students from Argentina, Cuba, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States who met twice a month. The proceedings of the club were conducted in Spanish and it offered “a meeting ground for native and foreign students to exchange information concerning the commerce and literature of their respective countries.”[1]  It is interesting to note the inclusiveness and interdisciplinary interests that characterized this group not only in terms of ethnicity but also in gender as the above photo shows.

Spanish remained as part of the Romance languages major and minor until 1919. Aside from the club Centro Literario Español, the focus on Latin America or courses on this area were practically absent in the first twenty years of the history of Spanish at UIUC. The Spanish program was basically in the hands of two main professors up to 1929 who were, Dr. Arthur R. Seymour and Assistant Professor John Driscoll Fitzgerald. In the case of Fitzgerald, he taught at UIUC from 1909 to 1929. He was a distinguished member of the Hispanic Society of America and a corresponding member of the Real Academia Española. Seymour was instrumental in the creation of Spanish courses with a heavy emphasis on business including “Spanish for Business” and “Business Correspondence and Conversation.” Materials analyzed in these courses ranged from facsimile business correspondence to consular and governmental documents written in Spanish. To these, Spanish graduate courses were added in 1917 which included “The Novela of the Golden Age” and “The Modern Novel in Spain.” Prof. Fitzgerald and Dr. Seymour were respectively in charge of those courses.

In 1919-1920, Spanish was recognized as a major requiring completion of 20 hours of Spanish in addition of Spanish elementary courses. As the program grew, and Dr. Seymour became Assistant Dean of Foreign Students, Spanish was taught by then Associate Professor Dr. John Van Horne, one instructor with a PhD and fourteen Assistants, seven of them women.  All fourteen Assistants held A.B. B.S. and A.M. degrees. In fact, Professor Van Horne –a twice awarded John Simon Guggenheim fellow- eventually became Head of the Department. It is after Spanish became a major when the first two Latin American courses focusing on Mexican culture and literatures were offered in 1929-1930; one on “El pensamiento y la cultura mexicana revelado en su literatura” and another one on “La novela en la literatura mexicana”. Both courses were taught by Visiting Spanish Professor and writer Julio Jiménez Rueda. Jiménez Rueda was a Mexican lawyer, playwright and diplomat who was also known for being the co-founder of the now famous Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana. This emphasis on the intersections between literature and culture would become, since then, a signature of what our department is known for today.

In 1939-1940, The Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recommended that the Department of Romance Languages be reorganized into two departments, namely: (1) The Department of French, and (2) the Department of Spanish and Italian; each to have a separate head, staff and budget. Professor Van Horne was named Head of the Department and the departmental office was located in Lincoln Hall. At that time the Department already offered a minor with 20 required hours. In the 1940s, the number of Latin American courses increased including “Introduction to Spanish American Literature”, “Modern Spanish and Spanish American Drama,” “Survey of Latin American literatures”, “Orígenes de la cultura hispanoamericana”, and “Grandes escritores de la América hispana en los siglos XIX-XX.” At the time illustrious visiting professors came to the University of Illinois to teach, including famous Uruguayan scholar Enrique Rodríguez Fabregat and José Bagú. Enrique Rodríguez Fabregat, world renown journalist and politician, eventually became a diplomat at the United Nations playing a vital role along with Gabriela Mistral on the “Tabla de los Derechos de la Niñez” which became the foundational document for the creation of the UNICEF. Bagú was an internationally known Argentinean historian, philosopher and sociologist who is considered to date one of the most influential Marxist thinkers. While on campus he gave many talks on issues from post war problems in Pan America to student relations between the US and South America. The courses on Latin America were also taught by Joseph S. Flores who was an Assistant at the time. Flores taught for forty-one years in our department and in his honor the Joseph S. Flores award was established by his former students and colleagues at Illinois and across the nation to honor him for his achievements. Our department gives the award annually to an outstanding undergraduate majoring in Spanish.

In the early 1940’s Spanish played an important role in community outreach. Mary Kranos Rubio, who was a graduate student in Spanish in 1943 and who in 1944 also worked as a part-time secretary to the head, donated visual memorabilia to the department about these decades which coincided with World War II. Thanks to these materials we know more about this historical moment. According to her, the department at the time played a key role in the training of enlisted soldiers. Her archival records state that, “During World War II, the department was assigned a group of enlisted men for special oral training in Spanish. The department was supplied a 78-rpm phonograph recording machine and 7-inch discs, acetate coated on glass, marked ‘Howard’ and ‘Silvertone’(https://spanport.illinois.edu/alumni/historical-photos/mary-kranos-rubio-memorabilia-archive-1939-1944). This engagement with the community was followed by an important curriculum innovation when in 1949 the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) established a major in Latin American Studies, becoming the university’s “first major to study a world region, marking campus engagement with the international community” (Newsletter, Winter 2014).  This departmental engagement with the international community is still present through our study abroad programs in Spain and Latin America, and in our exchange with the Etxepare Basque Institute which offers us the opportunity to still teach Basque language and culture.

It is interesting to note that in the early 1940’s with travel restricted to many countries due to the World War II situation, many international students had to remain here on campus. This is quite similar to what happened to our current students when covid-19 hit in March 2020 when they were unable to return home. According to Mary Kranos Rubio, students from South America remained in Urbana-Champaign and spent some of their time participating in Spanish plays as part of the Spanish Club activities. The number of members was quite high as the photo below shows.

 

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The emphasis on diversifying the department continued in the 1960’s when the Department of Spanish and Italian became in 1961 one of the first departments in the United States to offer a degree of Master of Arts in the Teaching of Spanish which continued until 1999. Also, during the leadership Professor W. H. Shoemaker as Head, the university approved a change in the name of the Department of Spanish and Italian to Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. The reason for the change was that courses in Portuguese had been offered by the Department of Spanish and Italian for a number of years and the change was to reflect more accurately its program. Under W. H. Shoemaker, one of the most important hires in the history of our Department occurred when Professor Luis Leal was hired. Professor Leal was an internationally recognized scholar of Mexican, Chicano and Latin American literature who is considered as one of the founders of the field of Chicano literary studies. Luis Leal attracted students such as famous alumni Rolando Hinojosa-Smith (Ph.D. ‘69 in Spanish) an award-winning author of short stories, poetry and novels who became a distinguished professor of creative writing and English at the University of Texas. In 1988-89, he was named the University of Illinois/College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumnus while later in 1998 the University honored him with the University of Illinois Alumni Achievement Award.  

 

 

 

LAS INSIDER features alumna and marine biologist Abby Knipp!

04/25/20

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Despite the challenging times we are currently confronting, there are still some wonderful news to share about our alumni and their achievements.

LAS Insider, an online blog for prospective students which covers the sciences, humanities, and social sciences showcased three of our alumn Abby Knipp a recent graduate who majored in Spanish and also in Earth, Society & Environmental Sustainability (ESES).  

 You can read about Abby Knipp’s exciting journey as a marine biologist in the Spanish speaking Caribbean in:

https://las.illinois.edu/news/blog/las-insider/2020-03-09/3-continents-2-majors-1-minor-and-published-research

Alumni News: Heather Ana Hathaway Miranda named Director of the LAS Alumni Board Association.

04/25/20

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Heather Ana Hathaway Miranda, a 1995 Spanish alumna, has been selected as Director of the LAS Alumni Board Association. The Association was founded in 1984 as a member-supported organization who works as ambassadors for the College of LAS. The Association also engages in many activities geared to LAS alumni  so they can continue to be involved with their college community and our campus. 

You can find more about the book here:

https://nyupress.org/9781479878611/boundaries-of-love/

 

Alumna Kristina Medina-Vilariño awarded ACLS Frederick Brukhardt Fellowship

 

Alumnus José Miguel Lemus recipient Ohtli Award

 

You can read more about the award here.

 

Alumnus Iker González-Allende awarded Leland and Dorothy Professorship at the University of Nebraska

 

 

Alumna Vanesa Landrus recipient of Achievement and Contribution Award

 

 

Alumna Pamela Cappas-Toro finalist for national Lynton Award

12/25/17

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Alumna Prof. Pamela Cappas-Toro has been named a finalist for the national Lynton Award, sponsored by Brown University, which recognizes "a faculty member who, early in their career before receiving tenure, connects their teaching and research to community service and engagement," for her project on La Plaza Comunitaria Latina at Stetson University.

You can find Prof. Cappas-Toro's faculty webpage here.

 

 

Alumnus Charles Larenas, Recipient of Annual Immigrant Welcome Award

 

Alumnus Antonio del Prado featured by Spanish newspaper El País