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Student newspaper recalls IU centennial
January 28, 2003 | ||||||
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A copy of The Indiana Daily Student commemorating Indiana University’s 100th birthday in 1920 has been donated to the IU Kokomo archives. Chancellor Ruth Person accepted the document January 13 from Robert Hilligoss and Robert E. Hillis, both of Kokomo. Hilligoss obtained the document with other items he purchased at a sale for the estate of Hillis’ parents, Glenn and Bernice Hillis. Dated July 16, 1920, the four-page newspaper likely belonged to Glenn Hillis, who was a student at IU Bloomington when the university celebrated its centennial with a week of activities May 31-June 4, 1920. Centennial events recorded by the paper included a pageant of IU history with a cast of 600, convocations drawing thousands, baseball games, and Commencement exercises presided over by IU President William Lowe Bryan and three of his predecessors. According to one article, in 1920, IU claimed 150 teachers, 3,600 students, and a $999,000 annual budget. Other stories in the edition mentioned: • Establishment of a “greater Alumni Association,” which would work without university financial support • The “new School of Commerce and Finance,” which offered classes in general business, accounting, banking and secretarial training • IU football players keeping fit over the summer by “working in the harvest fields” and at a lumber camp. Hillis family members have played prominent roles in Kokomo and Indiana University history. Glenn Hillis served on the IU Board of Directors under Chancellor Herman B Wells; he also ran for Indiana governor on the Republican ticket with Wendell Willkie in 1940. Bernice Hillis was the daughter of noted Kokomo inventor and industrialist Elwood Haynes. Robert Hillis’ brother is Elwood “Bud” Hillis, U.S. Representative for Indiana’s Fifth District from 1971–1986 and a graduate of the IU School of Law. Their sister, Margaret Hillis, was a professor of choral direction at both IU Bloomington and Northwestern University. She directed the Chicago Symphony chorus for many years and, according to Robert, performed frequently at IU Kokomo’s Havens Auditorium.
Robert Hillis and Robert Hilligoss are brothers-in-law, who both attended IU Kokomo when classes were offered at the Sieberling Mansion. Hilligoss is retired from Delphi Delco. Hillis worked as a plant engineer for Dirilyte Tableware, before becoming an independent engineer who designed many commercial buildings in the community.
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