Northern Illinois University was chartered in 1895 as Northern Illinois State Normal School. Letters exchanged between President Cook and students during NIU’s early years demonstrate that although more than a century has passed, the correspondence is similar to that sent by today's students, faculty, and staff. The authors of these century-old letters wrote of weight loss, relationships, and receiving money from parents. The campus is much different now--Northern has progressed from being a college with an enrollment of just 173 students to a university with over 23,850 enrolled students—but the topics of conversation continue to have abiding themes.
