Alumni

Happy Homecoming: 125 Years of Northeastern

A column on the Northeastern Boston campus. It reads 1900s in large lettering on one side and features photos and information about the Automotive School on another side

Automobiles, the World Series, and the Iditarod all have at least one thing in common: Northeastern.

This year, the Archives and Special Collections staff have been doing research and digitizing records to support the observance of the university’s 125th anniversary.

Around the Boston campus, you can still see the signs installed on Founders Day detailing Northeastern’s development and the Boston campus history.

As we approach Homecoming Weekend, here are some features of Husky history to brush up on:

Northeastern’s Automotive School
The Automotive School was established in 1903 as a part of the Evening Institute. Franklin Palmer Speare anticipated that with the rise of automobiles in America, there would be need for related education. Classes offered included automotive engineering, driving lessons, upholstery, and auto repair. It was a high-enrolling school until the 1920s and it officially closed in 1926. The Automotive School even had a jingle written for it: “The Auto-mo-billie-beel.”

Cover of a songbook titled "The Auto-mo-billie-beel: A Song of the Motor Car"

King Husky I
King Husky I was trained by Leonhard Seppala. When Vice President Carl Ell sought out Seppala in 1927, he did so not only because Northeastern needed a mascot, but also because Seppala had already inspired one great tradition: the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. In 1925, Nome, Alaska, experienced an infamous diphtheria epidemic. Teams of sled dogs played an important role in bringing diphtheria serum through extremely harsh conditions. Leonhard Seppala and his team of Siberian huskies carried the serum over 91 miles of the treacherous relay before passing the cargo to the more famous Gunnar Kaasen, driver of the famous Balto, who covered the final stretch of trail and delivered the serum to Nome. The effort made by Seppala and the other teams have since been commemorated yearly by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Black and white image of a husky dog. Kneeling next to him is a man wearing a fur jacket and a student in a winter coat
King Husky I on the day of his arrival at Northeastern on March 5, 1927. He poses with Leonhard Seppala and Ray Todd, member of the Northeastern Student Council.

King Husky was beloved by the students, and Seppala even provided feeding instructions for the care and keeping of King Husky I.

Northeastern and the World Series
Northeastern’s Cabot Physical Education Center now occupies what were the grounds for the first World Series, which took place in 1903 between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Americans. The Americans became the first-ever World Series champions and the event is commemorated with a statue of Americans pitcher Cy Young located between Cabot Center and Churchill Hall.

A bronze statue of Cy Young leaning forward, ready to throw a pitch
Cy Young Statue on the Boston campus. Craig Bailey/Northeastern University
Black and white image of people crowding the field of the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds
People crowd the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds at the first-ever World Series game in October 1903.

Library Dean visits Northeastern Alumni and Parents in Rome

May 27, 2018 Dan Cohen, Dean of Libraries, Vice Provost for Information and Collaboration, was welcomed by a dozen alumni and parents in Rome to enjoy lunch and conversation. This was the first gathering for the Northeastern University community in the area, expanding on our mission to engage globally. The unique innovative ecosystem at Northeastern University continues to be a catalyst for our global community of agile, creative thinkers. Guests enjoyed meeting Dan and each other with conversation ranging from digital media and technology to various successful initiatives and professions our alumni and parents experience. We look forward to continuing to evolve and strengthen the wonderful connections made in Italy!

Proud of Our Graduates

On behalf of Snell Library, I would like to congratulate all the graduates. We have seen how hard you’ve all worked. You have filled up every table and corner of the library, from the Cyber Café to the 4th floor quiet areas. We feel that your success is ours and that makes us, well, a little bit proud! Anyone graduating today who was a student worker at Snell Library? We want to congratulate you and thank you for your service to the library. Contact us, and we can give you a Snell Library t-shirt! I heard a great speech by Sarah Tishler at the Psychology Department graduation ceremony yesterday. I continue to be impressed by the achievements of our students, and by the number of undergraduates who are doing research alongside faculty.  Graduation is a time of celebration, but it can also feel like a time of ending and loss. We want you to remember that Club Snell can always be your home-away-from-home! You are soon to become alumni. We have services for alumni, listed here: http://www.lib.neu.edu/services/for_alumni/.  As an alum, for example, you are entitled to reserve the Anna & Eugene M. Reppucci Alumni Reading Room, and you can still borrow books from Snell. To keep in touch, please follow us on Twitter and Facebook. What a beautiful day for Commencement 2011! Congratulations to all the grads!

Let's Talk about Printing

We welcome all library guests to use our space, services, and resources here at Snell Library; however, just as a reminder, printing from Snell Library computers is available to students, faculty, and staff of Northeastern University. If you are an alumnus, a Northeastern parent, or a user of government publications and would like to print, you can visit the Circulation Desk on Level One or the Research Assistance Desk on Level Two to request printouts. If you do not fall into one of the above categories, we recommend emailing your files to yourself or saving them to a flash drive (available for sale in the NU Bookstore) in order to print them from another location. If you have any questions, please contact Lesley Milner at l.milner@neu.edu.

The Alumni Reading Room Opens!

It’s here! Today was the official opening of the Anna & Eugene M. Reppucci Alumni Reading Room. The room was a generous gift of Eugene M. Reppucci, Jr., an alumnus of Northeastern, donated in memory of his parents. The Reading Room will serve as a space for alumni to conduct personal research, relax, and experience the Library outside the bustle of the University. This room can also be reserved for alumni-related activities sponsored by student groups. There will be a reception in the Reading Room following the author talk scheduled for Parents’ Weekend, October 23, 2012. If you are interested in reserving the room for group functions, you can click here or contact the Office of the Dean of Libraries. To give the room a memorable opening, Paul Harding, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Tinkers, treated the Library to a reading from his novel as well as a revelatory discussion about the process of his work and his experiences as a child that led him to the creation of Tinkers.